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.

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.

Common Names:

Name	Pronounced	Usage
&Aelig;Lfric	-	Anglo-Saxon
Azazel	-	Biblical
Elma	['elmə]
Sens	-	Medieval Spanish
Huguette	-	French
Norah	['nɔ:rə]