Also:
Like looking for a needle in a haystack,
Like trying to find a needle in a haystack,
Like finding a needle in a haystack
Meaning of Idiom ‘Needle in a Haystack’
A needle in a haystack is something that is very hard, or almost impossible, to find. To be engaged in a search that is ‘like looking for a needle in a haystack’ means to be engaged in a hopeless search, one that is almost certain to fail; trying to find a small thing in a very large area or a thing that is surrounded by many other things.
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Examples Of Use
“I lost one of those tiny screws out of my glasses and it’s like looking for a needle in a haystack.”
“This area is full of winding canyons and vast desert plains. If you get lost here you’ll be a needle in a haystack. It’s not likely you’ll be found.”
“The forest is vast, covering hundreds of miles. Finding the missing child was like trying to find a needle in a haystack.”
“I can’t find an apartment in this town! Good apartments around here are like a needle in a haystack.”
“The search for the eighteenth—century provenance of a work of art is a bit like looking for a needle in a haystack, one formed of inventories, descriptions of homes and collections, wills, payment receipts, inscriptions on prints, and so on.” — Mary Holmes (Nicolas Lancret: Dance Before a Fountain)
Origin
This idiom has been used since the 1500s. It originally began with the word ‘meadow’ instead of haystack.
More Idioms Starting with N
More Needle Idioms
More Look/Looking Idioms
- Look What the Cat Dragged In
- Keep a Lookout Meaning
- Look Down Your Nose
- Not Much to Look At
- Miles Away, to be