snipe hunt
English edit
Etymology edit
- snipe + hunt
- Although snipe are an actual family of birds, a snipe hunt is a quest for an imaginary creature whose description varies.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
snipe hunt (plural snipe hunts)
- (idiomatic) A prank in which a gullible victim is sent off on a fruitless search for a nonexistent item.
- Synonyms: fool's errand, wild goose chase
- 2012 December 13, “The Leviathan”, in Elementary, season 1, episode 10, spoken by Watson (Lucy Liu):
- And you asked Charles Briggs for the name of the man who bought the secret, and he gives you a legend. A man who might not even exist. You know what, this is a snipe hunt.
Translations edit
prank
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Verb edit
snipe hunt (third-person singular simple present snipe hunts, present participle snipe hunting, simple past and past participle snipe hunted)
- (intransitive) To participate, as the gullible victim, in a snipe hunt.