English Explanatory Dictionary

tilt at windmills

English dictionary entry

Meanings

verb
  1. To attack imaginary enemies.
  2. To go on a wild-goose chase; to persistently engage in a futile activity.

Word forms

tilt at windmills tilts at windmills tilting at windmills tilted at windmills

Etymology

From a passage in the novel Don Quixote where the eponymous character tilts (i.e. jousts) at windmills that he has mistaken for giants.

Synonyms

fight windmills chase a rainbow

Related words

mistake windmills for giants throw one's cap over the windmill
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