be barking up the wrong tree
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To be attempting or pursuing a futile course of action, often by making some kind of suggestion or request. If you think I'll help you cheat, you're definitely barking up the wrong tree! I was barking up the wrong tree when I applied to such good colleges with my average grades.
be barking up the wrong tree
If someone is barking up the wrong tree, they are following the wrong course of action because their beliefs about something are not correct. Scientists in Switzerland realised that most other researchers had been barking up the wrong tree. Nobby, we've been barking up the wrong tree! We should have been looking for something green! Note: This expression comes from raccoon hunting, which takes place at night. Dogs that are trained to show where raccoons are hiding by barking sometimes indicate the wrong tree.