"snipe hunt" meaning in English

See snipe hunt in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

IPA: /ˈsnaɪpˌhʌnt/ [Received-Pronunciation, US] Audio: en-us-snipe hunt.ogg [US], en-au-snipe hunt.ogg [Australia] Forms: snipe hunts [plural]
Etymology: * snipe + hunt * Although snipe are an actual family of birds, a snipe hunt is a quest for an imaginary creature whose description varies. Etymology templates: {{m|en|snipe}} snipe, {{m|en|hunt}} hunt Head templates: {{en-noun}} snipe hunt (plural snipe hunts)
  1. (idiomatic) A prank in which a gullible victim is sent off on a fruitless search for a nonexistent item. Tags: idiomatic Synonyms: fool's errand, wild goose chase Translations (prank): hanekstõmbamine (Estonian), hukkareissu (Finnish), chasse au dahu (French), מרדף סרק (Hebrew), מרדף שווא (Hebrew), שליחות סרק (Hebrew), שליחות שווא (Hebrew), רדיפה אחרי הרוח (Hebrew)
    Sense id: en-snipe_hunt-en-noun-0oSNHxVT Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 89 11

Verb

IPA: /ˈsnaɪpˌhʌnt/ [Received-Pronunciation, US] Audio: en-us-snipe hunt.ogg [US], en-au-snipe hunt.ogg [Australia] Forms: snipe hunts [present, singular, third-person], snipe hunting [participle, present], snipe hunted [participle, past], snipe hunted [past]
Etymology: * snipe + hunt * Although snipe are an actual family of birds, a snipe hunt is a quest for an imaginary creature whose description varies. Etymology templates: {{m|en|snipe}} snipe, {{m|en|hunt}} hunt Head templates: {{en-verb}} snipe hunt (third-person singular simple present snipe hunts, present participle snipe hunting, simple past and past participle snipe hunted)
  1. (intransitive) To participate, as the gullible victim, in a snipe hunt. Tags: intransitive
    Sense id: en-snipe_hunt-en-verb-7sjgSI5m

Inflected forms

Download JSON data for snipe hunt meaning in English (4.9kB)

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "snipe"
      },
      "expansion": "snipe",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "hunt"
      },
      "expansion": "hunt",
      "name": "m"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "* snipe + hunt\n* Although snipe are an actual family of birds, a snipe hunt is a quest for an imaginary creature whose description varies.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "snipe hunts",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "snipe hunt (plural snipe hunts)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "89 11",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2012 December 13, “The Leviathan”, in Elementary, season 1, episode 10, spoken by Watson (Lucy Liu)",
          "text": "And you asked Charles Briggs for the name of the man who bought the secret, and he gives you a legend. A man who might not even exist. You know what, this is a snipe hunt.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A prank in which a gullible victim is sent off on a fruitless search for a nonexistent item."
      ],
      "id": "en-snipe_hunt-en-noun-0oSNHxVT",
      "links": [
        [
          "prank",
          "prank"
        ],
        [
          "gullible",
          "gullible"
        ],
        [
          "victim",
          "victim"
        ],
        [
          "fruitless",
          "fruitless"
        ],
        [
          "nonexistent",
          "nonexistent"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) A prank in which a gullible victim is sent off on a fruitless search for a nonexistent item."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "fool's errand"
        },
        {
          "word": "wild goose chase"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "et",
          "lang": "Estonian",
          "sense": "prank",
          "word": "hanekstõmbamine"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "prank",
          "word": "hukkareissu"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "prank",
          "word": "chasse au dahu"
        },
        {
          "code": "he",
          "lang": "Hebrew",
          "sense": "prank",
          "word": "מרדף סרק"
        },
        {
          "code": "he",
          "lang": "Hebrew",
          "sense": "prank",
          "word": "מרדף שווא"
        },
        {
          "code": "he",
          "lang": "Hebrew",
          "sense": "prank",
          "word": "שליחות סרק"
        },
        {
          "code": "he",
          "lang": "Hebrew",
          "sense": "prank",
          "word": "שליחות שווא"
        },
        {
          "code": "he",
          "lang": "Hebrew",
          "sense": "prank",
          "word": "רדיפה אחרי הרוח"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "note": "пойди туда́, не зна́ю куда́, принеси то́, не зна́ю что́",
          "roman": "pojdi tudá, ne znáju kudá, prinesi tó, ne znáju štó",
          "sense": "prank"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈsnaɪpˌhʌnt/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation",
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-snipe hunt.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/8/88/En-us-snipe_hunt.ogg/En-us-snipe_hunt.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/88/En-us-snipe_hunt.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (US)"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-au-snipe hunt.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/8/89/En-au-snipe_hunt.ogg/En-au-snipe_hunt.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/89/En-au-snipe_hunt.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "snipe hunt"
  ],
  "word": "snipe hunt"
}

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "snipe"
      },
      "expansion": "snipe",
      "name": "m"
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    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "hunt"
      },
      "expansion": "hunt",
      "name": "m"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "* snipe + hunt\n* Although snipe are an actual family of birds, a snipe hunt is a quest for an imaginary creature whose description varies.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "snipe hunts",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "snipe hunting",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "snipe hunted",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "snipe hunted",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "snipe hunt (third-person singular simple present snipe hunts, present participle snipe hunting, simple past and past participle snipe hunted)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [],
      "glosses": [
        "To participate, as the gullible victim, in a snipe hunt."
      ],
      "id": "en-snipe_hunt-en-verb-7sjgSI5m",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(intransitive) To participate, as the gullible victim, in a snipe hunt."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "intransitive"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈsnaɪpˌhʌnt/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation",
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-snipe hunt.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/8/88/En-us-snipe_hunt.ogg/En-us-snipe_hunt.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/88/En-us-snipe_hunt.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (US)"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-au-snipe hunt.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/8/89/En-au-snipe_hunt.ogg/En-au-snipe_hunt.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/89/En-au-snipe_hunt.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "snipe hunt"
  ],
  "word": "snipe hunt"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English nouns",
    "English terms with IPA pronunciation",
    "English terms with audio links",
    "English verbs"
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "snipe"
      },
      "expansion": "snipe",
      "name": "m"
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    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "hunt"
      },
      "expansion": "hunt",
      "name": "m"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "* snipe + hunt\n* Although snipe are an actual family of birds, a snipe hunt is a quest for an imaginary creature whose description varies.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "snipe hunts",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "snipe hunt (plural snipe hunts)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English idioms",
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2012 December 13, “The Leviathan”, in Elementary, season 1, episode 10, spoken by Watson (Lucy Liu)",
          "text": "And you asked Charles Briggs for the name of the man who bought the secret, and he gives you a legend. A man who might not even exist. You know what, this is a snipe hunt.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A prank in which a gullible victim is sent off on a fruitless search for a nonexistent item."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "prank",
          "prank"
        ],
        [
          "gullible",
          "gullible"
        ],
        [
          "victim",
          "victim"
        ],
        [
          "fruitless",
          "fruitless"
        ],
        [
          "nonexistent",
          "nonexistent"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) A prank in which a gullible victim is sent off on a fruitless search for a nonexistent item."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "fool's errand"
        },
        {
          "word": "wild goose chase"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈsnaɪpˌhʌnt/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation",
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-snipe hunt.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/8/88/En-us-snipe_hunt.ogg/En-us-snipe_hunt.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/88/En-us-snipe_hunt.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (US)"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-au-snipe hunt.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/8/89/En-au-snipe_hunt.ogg/En-au-snipe_hunt.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/89/En-au-snipe_hunt.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "et",
      "lang": "Estonian",
      "sense": "prank",
      "word": "hanekstõmbamine"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "prank",
      "word": "hukkareissu"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "prank",
      "word": "chasse au dahu"
    },
    {
      "code": "he",
      "lang": "Hebrew",
      "sense": "prank",
      "word": "מרדף סרק"
    },
    {
      "code": "he",
      "lang": "Hebrew",
      "sense": "prank",
      "word": "מרדף שווא"
    },
    {
      "code": "he",
      "lang": "Hebrew",
      "sense": "prank",
      "word": "שליחות סרק"
    },
    {
      "code": "he",
      "lang": "Hebrew",
      "sense": "prank",
      "word": "שליחות שווא"
    },
    {
      "code": "he",
      "lang": "Hebrew",
      "sense": "prank",
      "word": "רדיפה אחרי הרוח"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "note": "пойди туда́, не зна́ю куда́, принеси то́, не зна́ю что́",
      "roman": "pojdi tudá, ne znáju kudá, prinesi tó, ne znáju štó",
      "sense": "prank"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "snipe hunt"
  ],
  "word": "snipe hunt"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English nouns",
    "English terms with IPA pronunciation",
    "English terms with audio links",
    "English verbs"
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "snipe"
      },
      "expansion": "snipe",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "hunt"
      },
      "expansion": "hunt",
      "name": "m"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "* snipe + hunt\n* Although snipe are an actual family of birds, a snipe hunt is a quest for an imaginary creature whose description varies.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "snipe hunts",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "snipe hunting",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "snipe hunted",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "snipe hunted",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "snipe hunt (third-person singular simple present snipe hunts, present participle snipe hunting, simple past and past participle snipe hunted)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English intransitive verbs"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To participate, as the gullible victim, in a snipe hunt."
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(intransitive) To participate, as the gullible victim, in a snipe hunt."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "intransitive"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈsnaɪpˌhʌnt/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation",
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-snipe hunt.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/8/88/En-us-snipe_hunt.ogg/En-us-snipe_hunt.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/88/En-us-snipe_hunt.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (US)"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-au-snipe hunt.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/8/89/En-au-snipe_hunt.ogg/En-au-snipe_hunt.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/89/En-au-snipe_hunt.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "snipe hunt"
  ],
  "word": "snipe hunt"
}
{
  "called_from": "translations/609-20230504",
  "msg": "Translation too long compared to word, so it is skipped",
  "path": [
    "snipe hunt"
  ],
  "section": "English",
  "subsection": "noun",
  "title": "snipe hunt",
  "trace": ""
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-06 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-05-02 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce). 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.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.