To attempt or pursue the wrong thing; to take the wrong approach; to follow a false lead.
Etymology:
- An allusion to a situation in which a hunting dog misidentifies the tree up which it has chased an animal and positions itself at the base of another tree, barking upward at the branches.
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Submitted on September 01, 2009
Additional definitions for 'bark up the wrong tree':
| Bark Up the Wrong Tree | To have a wrong guess or idea about someone or some situation, efforts and attentions being diverted in a wrong direction |
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Nearby phrases
Some more phrases from our dictionary similar to bark up the wrong tree
all bark and no bitefall into the wrong handsapple does not fall far from the treebarking up the wrong treechristmas treebarking up the wrong tree!get out of bed on the wrong sideBark is Worse than Your Biteget into the wrong hands3-on-the-treefir treeChristmas tree billcorrect me if I'm wrongdown the wrong alley
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"bark up the wrong tree." Phrases.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2025. Web. 22 Feb. 2025. <https://www.phrases.com/phrase/bark-up-the-wrong-tree_2227>.
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