square the circle

Idioms  

1. Try to do the impossible, as in Getting that bill through the legislature is the same as trying to square the circle. This idiom alludes to the impossibility of turning a circle into a square. John Donne may have been the first to use it (Sermons, 1624): “Go not thou about to square either circle (God or thyself).”

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Example Sentences

Is there a way for Mr. Warsh to square the circle?

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 20, 2026

But the group’s vagueness as it tries to square the circle of its own positions has fueled suspicion.

From Seattle Times • Apr. 25, 2024

Throughout the pandemic era growth has largely exceeded that rate even as inflation has continued to fall, and Powell at his post-meeting press conference on Wednesday tried to square the circle.

From Reuters • Nov. 3, 2023

It was a financial vehicle to square the circle.

From Slate • Aug. 24, 2023

Since we can construct √a by means of the straightedge and compasses, it would be possible for us to square the circle if we could express π by a finite number of square roots.

From The Teaching of Geometry by Smith, David Eugene