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A futile search, a fruitless errand; a useless and often lengthy task whose execution is inordinately complex relative to the value of the outcome.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: figuratively, idiomatic
Examples
- I went on a wild-goose chase all over the town looking for that adapter until I discovered they no longer make them.
- Diagnosing this software application's problems is a wild-goose chase because it is built in an environment that has poor debugging tools.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: merry dance, exercise in futility, fool's errand, snipe hunt, snark hunt
Antonyms: none provided
the fruitless pursuit of something unattainable
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: pursuit, pursuance, quest
Early recorded use refers to a type of 16th century horse race where everyone had to try to follow the erratic course of the lead horse, like wild geese have to follow their leader in formation. Mentioned in 1593 in the English poet Gervase Markham’s book about horsemanship. Also mentioned in the William Shakespeare play Romeo and Juliet, Act 2, scene 4 by the character Mercutio: “Nay, if our wits run the wild-goose chase, I am done; for thou hast more of the wild goose in one of thy wits than, I am sure, I have in my whole five.” Mentioned in Robert Burton, Anatomy of Melancholy (1621). Common use in the current may be the origin for the sport sense.
Across languages
Translations
22 source translations are retained for this English entry.
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Burmese:
English
— fruitless, futile pursuit
-
Chinese Mandarin:
竹籃打水 /竹篮打水
(zhúlándǎshuǐ)
— fruitless, futile pursuit
-
Chinese Mandarin:
徒勞 /徒劳
(túláo)
— fruitless, futile pursuit
-
Finnish:
neulan etsiminen heinäsuovasta
— fruitless, futile pursuit
-
Finnish:
hukkareissu
— fruitless, futile pursuit
-
Galician:
viaxe aos páxaros
— fruitless, futile pursuit
-
Galician:
andar á caza de ventos
— fruitless, futile pursuit
-
Georgian:
ველური ბაჭიანი დევნა
(veluri bač̣iani devna)
— fruitless, futile pursuit
-
German:
but see sinnloses Unterfangen
— fruitless, futile pursuit
-
German:
fruchtloses Unterfangen
— fruitless, futile pursuit
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Hebrew:
מרדף שווא
— fruitless, futile pursuit
-
Irish:
gogaille gó
— fruitless, futile pursuit
-
Italian:
ricerca inutile
— fruitless, futile pursuit
-
Italian:
ricerca vana
— fruitless, futile pursuit
-
Italian:
caccia ai fantasmi
— fruitless, futile pursuit
-
Italian:
sforzo inutile
— fruitless, futile pursuit
-
Polish:
szukanie wiatru w polu
— fruitless, futile pursuit
-
Portuguese:
caça aos gambozinos
— fruitless, futile pursuit
-
Scottish Gaelic:
air gnothaich na cuthaig
— fruitless, futile pursuit
-
Spanish:
búsqueda inútil
— fruitless, futile pursuit
-
Ukrainian:
шукати вітер у полі
(šukaty viter u poli)
— fruitless, futile pursuit
-
Welsh:
chwilio am nyth cwhwrw
— fruitless, futile pursuit
