To have a wrong guess or idea about someone or some situation, efforts and attentions being diverted in a wrong direction
Etymology:
- The origins of this idiom are very interesting and they link to the colonial times in America. During raccoon hunting dogs would bark up a certain tree, on which a raccoon was present. Quite often the raccoon would jump on to different tree branches till the hunter came. This left the dog barking up the wrong tree and the hunter would keep on looking up the tree for any raccoons.
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Submitted on February 25, 2019
Additional definitions for 'Bark Up the Wrong Tree':
bark up the wrong tree | To attempt or pursue the wrong thing; to take the wrong approach; to follow a false lead. |
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Nearby phrases
Some more phrases from our dictionary similar to Bark Up the Wrong Tree
christmas treefall into the wrong handscan't do right for doing wrongget into the wrong handsas the twig is bent, so the tree's incl…fruit of the poisonous treebarking up the wrong treebarking up the wrong tree!get out of bed on the wrong side3-on-the-treeapple does not fall far from the treeBark is Worse than Your Bitebarking-up the wrong tree:3-on-the-tree
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"Bark Up the Wrong Tree." Phrases.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 9 May 2024. <https://www.phrases.com/phrase/bark-up-the-wrong-tree_44473>.
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