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purple squirrel

American  
[pur-puhl skwur-uhl] / ˈpɜr pəl ˈskwɜr əl /

noun

purple squirrels plural

  1. Slang. a hypothetical person sought by an employer, with the ideal combination of temperament, experience, and education for a particular job.

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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