Meanings
present singular third person barks up the wrong tree · participle present barking up the wrong tree · participle past barked up the wrong tree · past barked up the wrong tree
- idiomaticTo take the wrong approach to a situation; to follow a false lead; to attempt to solve a problem using mistaken assumptions about its true nature.
The investigator spent days trying to prove the butler committed the murder, but it turns out he was barking up the wrong tree.
4 more examples
You're not the first man who has made such a mistake, and found he was barking up the wrong tree.
1894, Robert Barr, chapter 21, in In the Midst of AlarmsThey all went into the house, and left me feeling a precious idiot. I had been barking up the wrong tree this time.
1915, John Buchan, chapter 10, in The Thirty-Nine Steps"We want West. He's a cowardly murderer—killed the man who trusted him." . . . "Of course we may be barking up the wrong tree," the officer reflected aloud. "Maybe West isn't within five hundred miles of here."
1922, William MacLeod Raine, chapter 19, in Man SizeAfter three failed marriages I realised that I may have been barking up the wrong tree and should abandon the search for the perfect wife.
2008 September 2, Ken Russell, “Let my life flash before you, in paperback”, in Times Online, UK, retrieved 01 Oct 2010
Origin
An allusion to a situation in which a hunting dog misidentifies the tree up which it has chased an animal and positions itself at the base of another tree, barking upward at the branches.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Czech plakat na špatném hrobě
- plakat na špatném hroběbark up the wrong tree
Danish tage fejl, være på vildspor
- tage fejlbark up the wrong tree
- være på vildsporbark up the wrong tree
- gå galt i byenbark up the wrong tree
Finnish haukkua väärää puuta
- haukkua väärää puutabark up the wrong tree
French faire fausse route, se mettre le doigt dans l'œil
- faire fausse routebark up the wrong tree
- se mettre le doigt dans l'œilbark up the wrong tree
- miser sur le mauvais chevalbark up the wrong tree
- se tromper de ciblebark up the wrong tree
German auf dem Holzweg sein
- auf dem Holzweg seinbark up the wrong tree
Hebrew טעה בכתובת, טיפס על העץ הלא נכון
- טעה בכתובת (ta'á bak'tóvet)bark up the wrong tree
- טיפס על העץ הלא נכון (tipés ál ha'éts haló nakhón)bark up the wrong tree
Italian prendere un granchio
- prendere un granchiobark up the wrong tree
Lithuanian būti neteisiam
- būti neteisiambark up the wrong tree
Norwegian Bokmål ta feil, bli villedet
- ta feilbark up the wrong tree
- bli villedetbark up the wrong tree
Polish skupiać się na złej sprawie
- skupiać się na złej sprawiebark up the wrong tree
Portuguese bater à porta errada, bater na porta errada
- bater à porta erradabark up the wrong tree
- bater na porta erradabark up the wrong tree
Russian напа́сть на ло́жный след, не тем заниматься
- напа́сть на ло́жный след (napástʹ na lóžnyj sled)bark up the wrong tree
- не тем заниматься (ne tem zanimatʹsja)bark up the wrong tree
- не в ту степь поехать (ne v tu stepʹ pojexatʹ)bark up the wrong tree
Spanish errar el tiro, petar a la puerta equivocado
- errar el tirobark up the wrong tree
- petar a la puerta equivocadobark up the wrong tree
Cite this entry
bark up the wrong tree. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bark%20up%20the%20wrong%20tree
“bark up the wrong tree.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bark%20up%20the%20wrong%20tree. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “bark up the wrong tree,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bark%20up%20the%20wrong%20tree.
Source: bark up the wrong tree on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.