snipe hunt

• snipe + hunt
• Based on the snipe, a family of shorebirds that are notoriously difficult to hunt.

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

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

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.
   • 2012 December 13, Lucy Liu as Watson, “The Leviathan”, in Elementary, season 1, episode 10:

     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.

   Synonyms: fool's errand, wild goose chase

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.