Advertisement
wild goose chase (n.)
"pursuit of anything in ignorance of the direction it will take," hence "a foolish enterprise," 1592, first attested in "Romeo and Juliet," where it evidently is a figurative use of an earlier (but unrecorded) literal sense in reference to a kind of follow-the-leader steeplechase, perhaps from one of the "crazy, silly" senses in goose (n.). Wild goose (as opposed to a domesticated one) is attested in late Old English (wilde gos).
updated on October 04, 2021
Advertisement
Advertisement
Dictionary entries near wild goose chase
wigwam
wiki
wilco
wild
wild card
wild goose chase
wild man
wildcat
wildebeest
wilderness
wildfire