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• wild-goose chase
  wild-goose chase

  noun

  a wild or absurd search for something nonexistent or unobtainable.
• wild goose chase
  wild goose chase

  A futile search or pursuit, as in I think she sent us on a wild goose chase looking for their beach house. This idiom originally referred to a form of 16th-century horseracing requiring riders to follow a leader in a particular formation (presumably resembling a flock of geese in flight). Its figurative use dates from about 1600.

wild-goose chase

American  

[wahyld-goos] / ˈwaɪldˈgus /

noun

1. a wild or absurd search for something nonexistent or unobtainable.

   a wild-goose chase looking for a building long demolished.

2. any senseless pursuit of an object or end; a hopeless enterprise.

   Her scheme of being a movie star is a wild-goose chase.

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wild-goose chase British  

noun

1. an absurd or hopeless pursuit, as of something unattainable

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wild goose chase Idioms  

1. A futile search or pursuit, as in I think she sent us on a wild goose chase looking for their beach house. This idiom originally referred to a form of 16th-century horseracing requiring riders to follow a leader in a particular formation (presumably resembling a flock of geese in flight). Its figurative use dates from about 1600.

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Etymology

Origin of wild-goose chase

First recorded in 1585–95

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

wild-goose chase wild goose chase

One of the cinematic highlights of the 2024 New York International Children’s Film Festival could be described, at least partly, as a wild-goose chase.

From New York Times ● Feb. 29, 2024

At least the Victorians were just sending their friends on a wild-goose chase to be funny, and not actively poisoning them.

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 6, 2023

After something like a wild-goose chase, the grounds crew wrapped the big bird in a towel, placed it into a plastic recycling bin and retreated back into the Dodgers dugout.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2022

This time, the judges not only threw out Mr Odinga's case, but they chastised his legal team, saying the court had been sent on "a wild-goose chase".

From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2022

What must have happened, he came to realize, was that Fred had left the door to her suite open when he rushed in to save her after returning from his wild-goose chase.

From "Small Steps" by Louis Sachar

"It led to a wild goose chase of trying to figure out where this contamination could possibly have come from, because we just knew this number was far too high to be correct," Clough said.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 29, 2026

Jason Fagone: So, the Shakespeare project turned out to be a wild goose chase, right?

From Scientific American ● Oct. 12, 2023

Spoiler alert: Near the end of their book, Chan and Ridley acknowledge that they have conducted a wild goose chase.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 15, 2021

It sounds like the quintessential wild goose chase - police called to reports a bird has smashed a taxi window.

From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2019

Cuddy agreed that the latest tip was probably another wild goose chase, but at least it offered a change of pace.

From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson