whack-a-mole

1.
General Englishneutral
- An arcade game in which players hit mechanical figures that repeatedly pop up from holes.
2.
General EnglishNorth AmericaUnited Kingdominformal
- A situation in which problems or unwanted events repeatedly reappear after being temporarily dealt with, giving the impression of endless, repetitive effort.
- Any task or process that involves repeatedly addressing short‑term symptoms rather than solving an underlying cause.
3.
General Englishinformalpejorative
- A person who is erratic, disruptive, or repeatedly appears in problematic ways; used derogatorily to describe someone perceived as mentally unstable or persistently troublesome.

Examples: