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bark up the wrong tree

bark up the wrong tree
B b

Transcription

    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • UK Pronunciation
    • UK IPA
    • [bahrk uhp stressed th ee rawng, rong tree]
    • /bɑrk ʌp stressed ði rɔŋ, rɒŋ tri/
    • /bɑːk ʌp ðə rɒŋ triː/
    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • [bahrk uhp stressed th ee rawng, rong tree]
    • /bɑrk ʌp stressed ði rɔŋ, rɒŋ tri/

Definitions of bark up the wrong tree words

  • noun bark up the wrong tree to misdirect one's attention, efforts, etc; be mistaken 3
  • noun bark up the wrong tree to misdirect one's attack, energies, etc. 3
  • noun bark up the wrong tree the abrupt, harsh, explosive cry of a dog. 1
  • noun bark up the wrong tree a similar sound made by another animal, as a fox. 1
  • noun bark up the wrong tree a short, explosive sound, as of firearms: the bark of a revolver. 1
  • noun bark up the wrong tree a brusque order, reply, etc.: The foreman's bark sent the idlers back to their machines. 1

Information block about the term

Origin of bark up the wrong tree

First appearance:

before 900
One of the 4% oldest English words
before 900; Middle English berken, Old English beorcan; akin to Old English borcian to bark, Old Norse berkja to bluster, Lithuanian burgė́ti to growl, quarrel, Serbo-Croatian br̀gljati to murmur

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Bark up the wrong tree

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation

bark up the wrong tree popularity

A common word. It’s meaning is known to most children of preschool age. About 100% of English native speakers know the meaning and use the word.
Most Europeans know this English word. The frequency of it’s usage is somewhere between "mom" and "screwdriver".

bark up the wrong tree usage trend in Literature

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer

See also

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