barking up the wrong tree
In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.
Meaning · English
Pursuing a mistaken idea or blaming the wrong person or cause.
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
Đi theo ý tưởng sai lầm hoặc đổ lỗi cho người hoặc nguyên nhân sai
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: A dog barking at a tree its quarry is not in.
How to use it
✓ Use it when
Correcting someone’s misdirected effort or accusation.
Register: informalConnotation: correctiveEra: 19th century – present
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Origin
American English
• 19th-century American hunting image
Examples
If you think I leaked the memo, you’re barking up the wrong tree.
Editorial example (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Common questions
What does “barking up the wrong tree” mean?
Pursuing a mistaken idea or blaming the wrong person or cause. Literally: A dog barking at a tree its quarry is not in.
Is “barking up the wrong tree” formal or informal?
barking up the wrong tree is generally informal; connotation: corrective.