wild-goose chase

wild-goose chase
noun
the fruitless pursuit of something unattainable
• Hypernyms: ↑pursuit, ↑pursuance, ↑quest

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noun
Etymology: so called from the characteristic flight of wild geese in a group spaced at intervals behind a leader that sets the course
1. obsolete : a cross-country ride in which the leading horseman can set the course for all contestants so long as he can hold the lead
2. : a pursuit after something unattainable : a futile pursuit or chase

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/wuyld"goohs"/
1. a wild or absurd search for something nonexistent or unobtainable: a wild-goose chase looking for a building long demolished.
2. any senseless pursuit of an object or end; a hopeless enterprise: Her scheme of being a movie star is a wild-goose chase.
[1585-95]

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wild-goose chase
1. A chase hither and thither
2. Any foolish or profitless pursuit of the unattainable
• • •
Main Entry: ↑chase
————————
wild-goose chase noun
1. A search that is doomed, esp for reasons unknown to the searcher, to be unsuccessful
2. Orig a chase hither and thither of the follow-my-leader kind
• • •
Main Entry: ↑wild

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wild-goose chase UK US noun [countable] [singular wild-goose chase plural wild-goose chases]
an attempt to find something that does not exist or that you are very unlikely to discover
Thesaurus: attempt to find something or someonesynonym

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wild-goose chase «WYLD GOOS»,
1. a useless search or attempt; foolish or hopeless quest.
2. an erratic course taken or led by one person (or thing) and followed (or that may be followed) by another.

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n. a foolish and hopeless pursuit of something unattainable

Useful english dictionary. 2012.

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Synonyms:
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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Wild goose chase — Wild Wild, a. [Compar. {Wilder}; superl. {Wildest}.] [OE. wilde, AS. wilde; akin to OFries. wilde, D. wild, OS. & OHG. wildi, G. wild, Sw. & Dan. vild, Icel. villr wild, bewildered, astray, Goth. wilpeis wild, and G. & OHG. wild game, deer; of… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • wild goose chase — wild goose chases also wild goose chase N COUNT: usu on N If you are on a wild goose chase, you waste a lot of time searching for something that you have little chance of finding, because you have been given incorrect information. Harry wondered… …   English dictionary

  • wild goose chase — wild goose .chase n a situation where you are looking for something that does not exist or that you are very unlikely to find, so that you waste a lot of time ▪ It looks like they ve sent us on a wild goose chase …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • wild goose chase — A wild goose chase is a waste of time time spent trying to do something unsuccessfully …   The small dictionary of idiomes

  • wild-goose chase — n. any search, pursuit, or endeavor regarded as being as futile as trying to catch a wild goose by chasing it …   English World dictionary

  • wild-goose chase — wild′ goose′ chase n. a wild or absurd search for something nonexistent or unobtainable; a senseless pursuit • Etymology: 1585–95 …   From formal English to slang

  • wild-goose chase — wild goose ,chase noun count an attempt to find something that does not exist or that you are very unlikely to discover …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • wild goose chase — 1592, first attested in Romeo and Juliet, where it evidently is a figurative use of an earlier (but unrecorded) literal sense in reference to a kind of follow the leader steeplechase …   Etymology dictionary

  • wild goose chase — ► NOUN ▪ a foolish and hopeless search for or pursuit of something unattainable …   English terms dictionary

  • wild goose chase —    A wild goose chase is a waste of time time spent trying to do something unsuccessfully.   (Dorking School Dictionary)    ***    If someone is sent on a wild goose chase, they waste their time looking for something that there is little chance… …   English Idioms & idiomatic expressions

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