"chase one's own tail" meaning in English

See chase one's own tail in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Verb

Forms: chases one's own tail [present, singular, third-person], chasing one's own tail [participle, present], chased one's own tail [participle, past], chased one's own tail [past]
Head templates: {{en-verb|*}} chase one's own tail (third-person singular simple present chases one's own tail, present participle chasing one's own tail, simple past and past participle chased one's own tail)
  1. Alternative form of chase one's tail Tags: alt-of, alternative Alternative form of: chase one's tail
    Sense id: en-chase_one's_own_tail-en-verb-O6edJLfM Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries
     
{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "chases one's own tail",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "chasing one's own tail",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "chased one's own tail",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "chased one's own tail",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "chase one's own tail (third-person singular simple present chases one's own tail, present participle chasing one's own tail, simple past and past participle chased one's own tail)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "alt_of": [
        {
          "word": "chase one's tail"
        }
      ],
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Alternative form of chase one's tail"
      ],
      "id": "en-chase_one's_own_tail-en-verb-O6edJLfM",
      "links": [
        [
          "chase one's tail",
          "chase one's tail#English"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "alt-of",
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "chase one's own tail"
}

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "chases one's own tail",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "chasing one's own tail",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "chased one's own tail",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "chased one's own tail",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "chase one's own tail (third-person singular simple present chases one's own tail, present participle chasing one's own tail, simple past and past participle chased one's own tail)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "alt_of": [
        {
          "word": "chase one's tail"
        }
      ],
      "categories": [
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English verbs",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Alternative form of chase one's tail"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "chase one's tail",
          "chase one's tail#English"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "alt-of",
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "chase one's own tail"
}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-03-18 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-03-02 using wiktextract (f2d86ce and 633533e). 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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