A person saying something is like finding a needle in a haystack is pointing out the difficulty of a situation

Etymology:

  • A stack of hay contains so much hay that a needle would be difficult to find in the stack
448 Views

The possibility of discovering the answer to our dilemma is similar to finding a lost needle in a haystack!

Submitted by WerterBuch on July 23, 2015

Modified by TriplePurple on December 01, 2023

Additional definitions for 'needle in a haystack':

needle in a haystackSomething that is difficult or impossible to locate; something impossibly complex or intractable.
Needle in a HaystackAn item that is almost impossible to locate, anything that has no chance of finding, in a hopeless situation
See them all »

Translation

Find a translation for the needle in a haystack phrase in other languages:

jehla v kupce sena

Nadel im Heuhaufen

aguja en un pajar

neula heinäsuovassa

aiguille dans une botte de foin

ago in un pagliaio

acul in carul cu fan

נאָדל אין אַ כייסטאַק

Select another language:

  • - Select -
  • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
  • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
  • Español (Spanish)
  • Esperanto (Esperanto)
  • 日本語 (Japanese)
  • Português (Portuguese)
  • Deutsch (German)
  • العربية (Arabic)
  • Français (French)
  • Русский (Russian)
  • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
  • 한국어 (Korean)
  • עברית (Hebrew)
  • Gaeilge (Irish)
  • Українська (Ukrainian)
  • اردو (Urdu)
  • Magyar (Hungarian)
  • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
  • Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Italiano (Italian)
  • தமிழ் (Tamil)
  • Türkçe (Turkish)
  • తెలుగు (Telugu)
  • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
  • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
  • Čeština (Czech)
  • Polski (Polish)
  • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Românește (Romanian)
  • Nederlands (Dutch)
  • Ελληνικά (Greek)
  • Latinum (Latin)
  • Svenska (Swedish)
  • Dansk (Danish)
  • Suomi (Finnish)
  • فارسی (Persian)
  • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
  • հայերեն (Armenian)
  • Norsk (Norwegian)
  • English (English)

Nearby phrases

Some more phrases from our dictionary similar to needle in a haystack

How to pronounce this phrase?

Discuss this needle in a haystack phrase with the community:

0 Comments

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this needle in a haystack definition to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "needle in a haystack." Phrases.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <https://www.phrases.com/phrase/needle-in-a-haystack_16394>.

    We need you!

    Help us build the largest human-edited phrases collection on the web!

    Quiz

    Are you a phrases master?

    »
    I think you're missing the wood for the ________.
    A fire
    B trees
    C pyre
    D tyre

    Browse Phrases.com