fishing expedition

noun

Updated on: 11 Apr 2018

Definition of fishing expedition

1 : a legal interrogation or examination to discover information for a later proceeding

2 : an investigation that does not stick to a stated objective but hopes to uncover incriminating or newsworthy evidence

Recent Examples of fishing expedition from the Web

Trump and his allies on Capitol Hill disparage the FBI as biased and corrupt and special counsel Robert S. Mueller III as being on an unfair fishing expedition, but Sessions’s hands are tied.

— philip bump, Washington Post, "Trump’s tumultuous Cabinet, ranked," 1 Mar. 2018
Discovery can often turn into a fishing expedition, so there could be months of litigation and motions lodged by both sides, a process that is sure to dash any hopes of the President skipping free of his legal troubles anytime soon.

— stephen collinson, CNN, "The peril lurking in Trump's deepening legal mire," 22 Mar. 2018
It was declared to be an investigation of Russian electoral interference but is really an ongoing fishing expedition to get the president.

— gerard baker, WSJ, "The 10-Point.," 19 Mar. 2018
Oh, sure, Banister had been on a few hunting trips and fishing expeditions here and there, but nothing ever truly extravagant with the entire family, including daughter Alexandra and son Jacob.

— stefan stevenson, star-telegram, "That time Jeff Banister, Jim Schlossnagle and Todd Whitting went to Cabo | Fort Worth Star-Telegram," 21 Feb. 2018
Coinbase objected, and the IRS later narrowed its fishing expedition.

— kathleen pender, San Francisco Chronicle, "Taxes come due for bitcoin investors," 10 Feb. 2018
The evaluation is a kind of fishing expedition, in which doctors thread an array of electrodes into the brain and wait for seizures to occur to see whether surgery might prevent them.

— benedict carey, New York Times, "A Brain Implant Improved Memory, Scientists Report," 6 Feb. 2018
The father of three hasn’t been seen since going on a regular morning fishing expedition.

— alastair jamieson, NBC News, "Sea search ends for Quiksilver surfwear CEO Pierre Agnes," 1 Feb. 2018
The staff here is ready to do anything for guests, from looking after their pets to booking a clay shooting or fishing expedition.

— alyson krueger, Vogue, "Whiskey, Cashmere, and Castles: A Guide to Speyside, Scotland," 27 Jan. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'fishing expedition.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of fishing expedition

1874

Law Dictionary

fishing expedition

noun fish·ing ex·pe·di·tion \ -ˌek-spə-ˈdi-shən \

legal Definition of fishing expedition

1 : an inquiry (as by the use of discovery) that is unnecessarily extensive or unrelated to the lawsuit

2 : an investigation that does not stick to a stated objective but hopes to uncover incriminating or newsworthy evidence

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fishing expedition

Definition of fishing expedition

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First Known Use of fishing expedition

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fishing expedition

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