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haystack

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needle in a haystack

Something that is very difficult to locate. Trying to find my contact lens on the floor was like looking for a needle in a haystack.

See also: haystack, needle

be like looking for a needle in a haystack

To be similar to searching for something that is very difficult to locate, especially something small and/or something hidden among similar things. Trying to find my contact lens on the floor was like looking for a needle in a haystack.

See also: haystack, like, look, needle

like looking for a needle in a haystack

Fig. engaged in a hopeless search. Trying to find a white glove in the snow is like looking for a needle in a haystack. I tried to find my lost contact lens on the beach, but it was like looking for a needle in a haystack.

See also: haystack, like, look, needle

a needle in a haystack

something extremely hard to find It's pretty much a needle in a haystack because these fish are extremely hard to find.

Usage notes: also used in the forms look for a needle in a haystack and find a needle in a haystack

Etymology: based on the idea that it is to almost impossible to find a thin sewing needle in a haystack (a very tall pile of dried grass)

See also: haystack, needle

be like looking for a needle in a haystack

to be difficult or impossible to find I don't know how you find anything in your desk, Polly. It's like looking for a needle in a haystack.

See also: haystack, like, look, needle

needle in a haystack

An item that is very hard or impossible to locate, as in Looking for that screw in Dean's workshop amounts to looking for a needle in a haystack. Originating in the early 1500s, with meadow instead of haystack, this metaphor exists in many other languages as well.

See also: haystack, needle