bark up the wrong tree

短语

找错目标

发音

AU

词形变化

barked up the wrong tree barking up the wrong tree barks up the wrong tree 三单 barks up the wrong tree barking up the wrong tree 现在分词 barked up the wrong tree 过去式 barked up the wrong tree 过去分词

别名

bark at the wrong tree

释义与例句

v.
  1. 1.

    To take the wrong approach to a situation; to follow a false lead; to attempt to solve a problem using mistaken assumptions about its true nature.

    缘木求鱼

    习语

    The investigator spent days trying to prove the butler committed the murder, but it turns out he was barking up the wrong tree.

词源

An allusion to a situation in which a hunting dog misidentifies the tree up when it has chased an animal and positions itself at the base of another tree, barking upward at the branches.

来源：wiktionary