[wahyld-goos] 
| 1. | a wild or absurd search for something nonexistent or unobtainable: a wild-goose chase looking for a building long demolished. |
| 2. | any senseless pursuit of an object or end; a hopeless enterprise: Her scheme of being a movie star is a wild-goose chase. |
wild goose chase
A futile search or pursuit, as in I think she sent us on a wild goose chase looking for their beach house. This idiom originally referred to a form of 16th-century horseracing requiring riders to follow a leader in a particular formation (presumably resembling a flock of geese in flight). Its figurative use dates from about 1600.