wild-goose chase
noun
variants
or wild goose chase
: a complicated or lengthy and usually fruitless pursuit or search
These errors had two fatal consequences. The most obvious was that a number of engines and dozens of firefighters were sent on a wild-goose chase and did not get to the fire for many minutes.—
Jim Murphy
Jim Murphy
Examples of wild-goose chase in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The United States is weeks away from defaulting on its debt, but the GOP is apparently more concerned with wild-goose chases.
—Tori Otten, The New Republic, 10 May 2023
The reported murder of a man in el Cajon valley yesterday, which sent Deputy sheriff Ward on a wild-goose chase, proved to be an hallucination of Charles Willard, the informant.
—Merrie Monteagudo, San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 Apr. 2021
The idea is to avoid sending patients on a wild-goose chase, since many pharmacies received only 20 Paxlovid treatment courses.
—New York Times, 6 Jan. 2022
Thyroid disease can also cause hair loss, so the misdiagnosis can send doctors on a wild-goose chase.
—Amanda Mull, The Atlantic, 12 Nov. 2021
Then, following that wild-goose chase of a paragraph, Amis presents us with a footnote—and another hundred words on etymology.
—Leo Robson, Harper's Magazine, 27 Oct. 2020
Jagasia was 99 percent certain that this was a wild-goose chase.
—Lisa Sanders, New York Times, 18 Mar. 2020
Victims of torture will lie, frequently and often, to make pain stop, or as in the case of some of the 9/11 mastermins, to send analysts off on wild-goose chases.
—al, 10 Feb. 2020
Likes: Leading millions of minions on a wild-goose chase to a fabled heaven.
—Washington Post, 13 Sep. 2019
Tori Otten, The New Republic, 10 May 2023
The reported murder of a man in el Cajon valley yesterday, which sent Deputy sheriff Ward on a wild-goose chase, proved to be an hallucination of Charles Willard, the informant.
—Merrie Monteagudo, San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 Apr. 2021
The idea is to avoid sending patients on a wild-goose chase, since many pharmacies received only 20 Paxlovid treatment courses.
—New York Times, 6 Jan. 2022
Thyroid disease can also cause hair loss, so the misdiagnosis can send doctors on a wild-goose chase.
—Amanda Mull, The Atlantic, 12 Nov. 2021
Then, following that wild-goose chase of a paragraph, Amis presents us with a footnote—and another hundred words on etymology.
—Leo Robson, Harper's Magazine, 27 Oct. 2020
Jagasia was 99 percent certain that this was a wild-goose chase.
—Lisa Sanders, New York Times, 18 Mar. 2020
Victims of torture will lie, frequently and often, to make pain stop, or as in the case of some of the 9/11 mastermins, to send analysts off on wild-goose chases.
—al, 10 Feb. 2020
Likes: Leading millions of minions on a wild-goose chase to a fabled heaven.
—Washington Post, 13 Sep. 2019
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'wild-goose chase.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
First Known Use
circa 1595, in the meaning defined above
Time Traveler
The first known use of wild-goose chase was
circa 1595
Articles Related to wild-goose chase
Dictionary Entries Near wild-goose chase
Cite this Entry
“Wild-goose chase.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wild-goose%20chase. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
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Kids Definition
wild-goose chase
noun
: a complicated or lengthy and usually unsuccessful pursuit or search
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