needle in a haystack
15
6.1
- idiom
- Informal
:
aguja en un pajar
- Finding a solution to this problem seems like finding a needle in a haystack among all these distractions.
- looking for a needle in a haystack
- finding a needle in a haystack
- the proverbial needle in a haystack
Finding these home run stocks is difficult and many investors rather than trying to find a needle in a haystack, just buy the whole haystack.
- Finding these home run stocks is difficult and many investors rather than trying to find a needle in a haystack, just buy the whole haystack.
- And so basically these these computers are trying to brute force this puzzle and it's like looking for a needle in a haystack.
- I mean, when you're in mouth, like, you know, like a needle in a haystack.
Examples
-
It's a needle in a haystack.
-
Last winter, I found a needle in a haystack.
-
It's like looking for a needle in a haystack.
-
It's like trying to find a needle in a haystack.
Blog text (34) -
Finding a specific part of a specific gene amid all of a human cell's DNA is like finding a needle in a haystack.
Academic text (2015) -
One of the problems with SETI is finding a needle in a haystack.
Blog text (6) -
We'd have more success looking for a needle in a haystack than scouring the countryside for this man you've described.
Fiction book (1996) -
He likens his search to looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack, but he is intent on the hunt.
Academic text (2017) -
It's nearly impossible to locate that lost document; it's like searching for a needle in a haystack.
-
Trying to find the missing piece in this chaotic room feels like looking for a needle in a haystack.
Synonyms
Something that is very hard to find
How Hard to Find
Surface Forms
Morphology
The metaphorical meaning 'very difficult to find' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'needle' (a small object) with 'in a haystack' (a large mass where small items are easily hidden); the mental image makes the intended sense obvious. This construction is cross-linguistically common and follows a straightforward literal-to-figurative mapping, so a B1 learner who knows the words will almost certainly infer the idiomatic meaning.
Etymology
Needle in a haystack comes from the simple image of a tiny needle lost in a big haystack of straw, where you would have to look through a lot of hay to find it. That's why we use it to mean 'very hard to find'.