"tilt at windmills" meaning in All languages combined

See tilt at windmills on Wiktionary

Verb [English]

Forms: tilts at windmills [present, singular, third-person], tilting at windmills [participle, present], tilted at windmills [participle, past], tilted at windmills [past]
Etymology: From a passage in the novel Don Quixote where the eponymous character tilts (i.e. jousts) at windmills that he has mistaken for giants. Head templates: {{en-verb|*|head=tilt at windmills}} tilt at windmills (third-person singular simple present tilts at windmills, present participle tilting at windmills, simple past and past participle tilted at windmills)
  1. (intransitive) To attack imaginary enemies. Tags: intransitive Translations (attack imaginary enemies): lluïtar contra molins de vent (Catalan), taistella tuulimyllyjä vastaan (Finnish), se battre contre des moulins à vent (French), gegen Windmühlen kämpfen (German), נִלְחַם בְּטַחֲנוֹת רוּחַ (nilchám b'tachanót rúach) (Hebrew), dul i ngleic le samhailtí (Irish), slåss mot vindmøller (Norwegian Bokmål), kjempe mot vindmøller (Norwegian Bokmål), walczyć z wiatrakami [imperfective] (Polish), боро́ться с ветряны́ми ме́льницами (borótʹsja s vetrjanými mélʹnicami) (Russian), сража́ться с ветряны́ми ме́льницами (sražátʹsja s vetrjanými mélʹnicami) (Russian), luchar contra molinos de viento (Spanish), slåss mot väderkvarnar (Swedish), ymladd â melinau gwynt (Welsh)
    Sense id: en-tilt_at_windmills-en-verb-uuGDY1sH Disambiguation of 'attack imaginary enemies': 97 3
  2. (intransitive, by extension) To go on a wild-goose chase; to persistently engage in a futile activity. Tags: broadly, intransitive Synonyms (go on a wild-goose chase): chase a rainbow
    Sense id: en-tilt_at_windmills-en-verb-Le~Ph32j Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English predicates, Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Terms with Catalan translations, Terms with Finnish translations, Terms with French translations, Terms with German translations, Terms with Hebrew translations, Terms with Irish translations, Terms with Norwegian Bokmål translations, Terms with Polish translations, Terms with Russian translations, Terms with Spanish translations, Terms with Swedish translations, Terms with Welsh translations Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 11 89 Disambiguation of English predicates: 36 64 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 15 85 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 14 86 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 11 89 Disambiguation of Terms with Catalan translations: 18 82 Disambiguation of Terms with Finnish translations: 19 81 Disambiguation of Terms with French translations: 20 80 Disambiguation of Terms with German translations: 18 82 Disambiguation of Terms with Hebrew translations: 19 81 Disambiguation of Terms with Irish translations: 19 81 Disambiguation of Terms with Norwegian Bokmål translations: 21 79 Disambiguation of Terms with Polish translations: 23 77 Disambiguation of Terms with Russian translations: 15 85 Disambiguation of Terms with Spanish translations: 14 86 Disambiguation of Terms with Swedish translations: 18 82 Disambiguation of Terms with Welsh translations: 20 80 Disambiguation of 'go on a wild-goose chase': 1 99
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Synonyms: fight windmills Related terms: throw one's cap over the windmill, mistake windmills for giants

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

{
  "etymology_text": "From a passage in the novel Don Quixote where the eponymous character tilts (i.e. jousts) at windmills that he has mistaken for giants.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "tilts at windmills",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "tilting at windmills",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "tilted at windmills",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "tilted at windmills",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*",
        "head": "tilt at windmills"
      },
      "expansion": "tilt at windmills (third-person singular simple present tilts at windmills, present participle tilting at windmills, simple past and past participle tilted at windmills)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "related": [
    {
      "_dis1": "49 51",
      "word": "throw one's cap over the windmill"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "49 51",
      "word": "mistake windmills for giants"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [],
      "glosses": [
        "To attack imaginary enemies."
      ],
      "id": "en-tilt_at_windmills-en-verb-uuGDY1sH",
      "links": [
        [
          "attack",
          "attack"
        ],
        [
          "imaginary",
          "imaginary"
        ],
        [
          "enemies",
          "enemies"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(intransitive) To attack imaginary enemies."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "intransitive"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "97 3",
          "code": "ca",
          "lang": "Catalan",
          "sense": "attack imaginary enemies",
          "word": "lluïtar contra molins de vent"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "97 3",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "attack imaginary enemies",
          "word": "taistella tuulimyllyjä vastaan"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "97 3",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "attack imaginary enemies",
          "word": "se battre contre des moulins à vent"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "97 3",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "attack imaginary enemies",
          "word": "gegen Windmühlen kämpfen"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "97 3",
          "code": "he",
          "lang": "Hebrew",
          "roman": "nilchám b'tachanót rúach",
          "sense": "attack imaginary enemies",
          "word": "נִלְחַם בְּטַחֲנוֹת רוּחַ"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "97 3",
          "code": "ga",
          "lang": "Irish",
          "sense": "attack imaginary enemies",
          "word": "dul i ngleic le samhailtí"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "97 3",
          "code": "nb",
          "lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
          "sense": "attack imaginary enemies",
          "word": "slåss mot vindmøller"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "97 3",
          "code": "nb",
          "lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
          "sense": "attack imaginary enemies",
          "word": "kjempe mot vindmøller"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "97 3",
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "attack imaginary enemies",
          "tags": [
            "imperfective"
          ],
          "word": "walczyć z wiatrakami"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "97 3",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "borótʹsja s vetrjanými mélʹnicami",
          "sense": "attack imaginary enemies",
          "word": "боро́ться с ветряны́ми ме́льницами"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "97 3",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "sražátʹsja s vetrjanými mélʹnicami",
          "sense": "attack imaginary enemies",
          "word": "сража́ться с ветряны́ми ме́льницами"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "97 3",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "attack imaginary enemies",
          "word": "luchar contra molinos de viento"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "97 3",
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "attack imaginary enemies",
          "word": "slåss mot väderkvarnar"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "97 3",
          "code": "cy",
          "lang": "Welsh",
          "sense": "attack imaginary enemies",
          "word": "ymladd â melinau gwynt"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "11 89",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "36 64",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English predicates",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
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        {
          "_dis": "15 85",
          "kind": "other",
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          "_dis": "14 86",
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          "_dis": "11 89",
          "kind": "other",
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          "_dis": "18 82",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Catalan translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
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        {
          "_dis": "19 81",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Finnish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
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        {
          "_dis": "20 80",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with French translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
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        {
          "_dis": "18 82",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with German translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "19 81",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Hebrew translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "19 81",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Irish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "21 79",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Norwegian Bokmål translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
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        {
          "_dis": "23 77",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Polish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
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        {
          "_dis": "15 85",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Russian translations",
          "parents": [],
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        {
          "_dis": "14 86",
          "kind": "other",
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          "_dis": "18 82",
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          "_dis": "20 80",
          "kind": "other",
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          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To go on a wild-goose chase; to persistently engage in a futile activity."
      ],
      "id": "en-tilt_at_windmills-en-verb-Le~Ph32j",
      "links": [
        [
          "wild-goose chase",
          "wild-goose chase"
        ],
        [
          "persistently",
          "persistently"
        ],
        [
          "futile",
          "futile"
        ],
        [
          "activity",
          "activity"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(intransitive, by extension) To go on a wild-goose chase; to persistently engage in a futile activity."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "_dis1": "1 99",
          "sense": "go on a wild-goose chase",
          "word": "chase a rainbow"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "broadly",
        "intransitive"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "_dis1": "49 51",
      "word": "fight windmills"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "tilting at windmills"
  ],
  "word": "tilt at windmills"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English predicates",
    "English verbs",
    "Entries with translation boxes",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Terms with Catalan translations",
    "Terms with Finnish translations",
    "Terms with French translations",
    "Terms with German translations",
    "Terms with Hebrew translations",
    "Terms with Irish translations",
    "Terms with Norwegian Bokmål translations",
    "Terms with Polish translations",
    "Terms with Russian translations",
    "Terms with Spanish translations",
    "Terms with Swedish translations",
    "Terms with Welsh translations"
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From a passage in the novel Don Quixote where the eponymous character tilts (i.e. jousts) at windmills that he has mistaken for giants.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "tilts at windmills",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "tilting at windmills",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "tilted at windmills",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "tilted at windmills",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*",
        "head": "tilt at windmills"
      },
      "expansion": "tilt at windmills (third-person singular simple present tilts at windmills, present participle tilting at windmills, simple past and past participle tilted at windmills)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "throw one's cap over the windmill"
    },
    {
      "word": "mistake windmills for giants"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English intransitive verbs"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To attack imaginary enemies."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "attack",
          "attack"
        ],
        [
          "imaginary",
          "imaginary"
        ],
        [
          "enemies",
          "enemies"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(intransitive) To attack imaginary enemies."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "intransitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English intransitive verbs"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To go on a wild-goose chase; to persistently engage in a futile activity."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "wild-goose chase",
          "wild-goose chase"
        ],
        [
          "persistently",
          "persistently"
        ],
        [
          "futile",
          "futile"
        ],
        [
          "activity",
          "activity"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(intransitive, by extension) To go on a wild-goose chase; to persistently engage in a futile activity."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "broadly",
        "intransitive"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "sense": "go on a wild-goose chase",
      "word": "chase a rainbow"
    },
    {
      "word": "fight windmills"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "ca",
      "lang": "Catalan",
      "sense": "attack imaginary enemies",
      "word": "lluïtar contra molins de vent"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "attack imaginary enemies",
      "word": "taistella tuulimyllyjä vastaan"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "attack imaginary enemies",
      "word": "se battre contre des moulins à vent"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "attack imaginary enemies",
      "word": "gegen Windmühlen kämpfen"
    },
    {
      "code": "he",
      "lang": "Hebrew",
      "roman": "nilchám b'tachanót rúach",
      "sense": "attack imaginary enemies",
      "word": "נִלְחַם בְּטַחֲנוֹת רוּחַ"
    },
    {
      "code": "ga",
      "lang": "Irish",
      "sense": "attack imaginary enemies",
      "word": "dul i ngleic le samhailtí"
    },
    {
      "code": "nb",
      "lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
      "sense": "attack imaginary enemies",
      "word": "slåss mot vindmøller"
    },
    {
      "code": "nb",
      "lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
      "sense": "attack imaginary enemies",
      "word": "kjempe mot vindmøller"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "attack imaginary enemies",
      "tags": [
        "imperfective"
      ],
      "word": "walczyć z wiatrakami"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "borótʹsja s vetrjanými mélʹnicami",
      "sense": "attack imaginary enemies",
      "word": "боро́ться с ветряны́ми ме́льницами"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "sražátʹsja s vetrjanými mélʹnicami",
      "sense": "attack imaginary enemies",
      "word": "сража́ться с ветряны́ми ме́льницами"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "attack imaginary enemies",
      "word": "luchar contra molinos de viento"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "attack imaginary enemies",
      "word": "slåss mot väderkvarnar"
    },
    {
      "code": "cy",
      "lang": "Welsh",
      "sense": "attack imaginary enemies",
      "word": "ymladd â melinau gwynt"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "tilting at windmills"
  ],
  "word": "tilt at windmills"
}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-21 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-12-04 using wiktextract (d8cb2f3 and 4e554ae). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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