needle in a haystack



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

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

Common Names:

NameGenderPronouncedUsage
NiccolÒneek-ko-LOItalian
Olanrewaju-Western African, Yoruba
Ayla (3)-Literature
Irinushka-Russian
SlametSLAH-metIndonesian, Javanese
Iohel-Biblical Latin