needle in a haystack

Idioms  

1. An item that is very hard or impossible to locate, as in Looking for that screw in Dean's workshop amounts to looking for a needle in a haystack. Originating in the early 1500s, with meadow instead of haystack, this metaphor exists in many other languages as well.

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

needle in a haystack

Searching among 950 million trees scattered across mountains and deep valleys was like looking for a needle in a haystack.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 4, 2026

While picking a big winner is like finding a proverbial needle in a haystack, it’s much easier than in 1926.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 23, 2026

"It's like looking for a needle in a haystack," Pavia said.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 13, 2025

“It’s a needle in a haystack to find an opportunity that makes financial sense to build today,” Goldstein said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2025

But I think if your dreams are small they can get lost, like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

From "Lucky Broken Girl" by Ruth Behar