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

"Searching for anything in it is like hunting for a needle in a haystack," he says.

From BBC ● Jun. 27, 2026

The process can take months for a single archaeological site and often feels like searching for a needle in a haystack.

From Science Daily ● May 11, 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

Otherwise it’d be like looking for a needle in a haystack.

From "The Last Cuentista" by Donna Barba Higuera

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