Definitions
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb intransitive To
attack imaginary enemies . - verb intransitive, idiomatic To go on a
wild goose chase ; topersistently engage in afutile activity
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
From a passage in the novel Don Quixote where the eponymous character tilts at (i.e. joust at) windmills that he has mistaken for giants
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bilby commented on the word tilt at windmills
The passage in Don Quixote from which this originates is quite delightful:
"So saying, and heartily recommending himself to his lady Dulcinea, whom he implored to succour him in this emergency, bracing on his target, and setting his lance in the rest, he put his Rozinante to full speed, and assaulting the nearest windmill, thrust it into one of the sails, which was drove about by the wind with so much fury, that the lance was shivered to pieces, and both knight and steed whirled aloft, and overthrown in very bad plight upon the plain." (Smollett Translation, 1755)
July 19, 2021
bilby commented on the word tilt at windmills
Did they sack the quarterback? To be sure, he was overthrown in very bad plight upon the plain.
July 19, 2021