tilt at windmills

== English == === Etymology === From a passage in the novel Don Quixote where the eponymous character tilts (i.e. jousts) at windmills that he has mistaken for giants. === Verb === tilt at windmills (third-person singular simple present tilts at windmills, present participle tilting at windmills, simple past and past participle tilted at windmills) (idiomatic, intransitive) To attack imaginary enemies. Synonym: fight windmills (idiomatic, intransitive, by extension) To go on a wild-goose chase; to persistently engage in a futile activity. Synonym: chase a rainbow ==== Related terms ==== ==== Translations ====