snipe hunt

• snipe + hunt
• Although snipe are an actual family of birds, a snipe hunt is a quest for an imaginary creature whose description varies.

• (Received Pronunciation, US) IPA^(key): /ˈsnaɪpˌhʌnt/

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snipe hunt (plural snipe hunts)

1. (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.

snipe hunt (third-person singular simple present snipe hunts, present participle snipe hunting, simple past and past participle snipe hunted)

1. (intransitive) To participate, as the gullible victim, in a snipe hunt.