verb phrase🎓 English idiom
barking up the wrong tree
pursuing a mistaken line of thought or action
What it means
To pursue a mistaken or misguided course of action, or to blame or question the wrong person. It suggests your effort is sincere but completely misdirected.
Words like “barking up the wrong tree” are exactly the kind of vocabulary our English vocabulary size test measures — find out how many English words you know.
Examples
- If you think I took your keys, you're barking up the wrong tree.
- The detectives spent weeks barking up the wrong tree before finding the real suspect.
- You're barking up the wrong tree asking me for money; I'm broke too.
- The company kept barking up the wrong tree, blaming staff for a software fault.
Where it comes from
The phrase comes from early 19th-century America and refers to hunting dogs that would chase prey up a tree, then bark at the base of the wrong one after the animal had moved on.
Related idioms
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