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.
needle in a haystack
| Idioms: needle in a haystack |
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 | needle (Idiom) |
| stack (Idiom) |
| need (Idiom) |
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 | What are the odds of finding a needle in a haystack? |
| It's like looking for a needle in a haystack? |
| To look for a needle in a haystack? |
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Copyrights:
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 | Idioms. The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more |
Related answers
- What does Finding a needle in a haystack mean?
- How do you find a needle in a haystack?
- How can you find a needle in a haystack?
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