wild goose chase

　　白费力气的搜寻;徒劳之举

　　释义：

　　a search that is completely unsuccessful and a waste of time because the person or thing being searched for does not exist or is somewhere else 白费力气的搜寻;徒劳之举

　　例句：

　　After two hours spent wandering in the snow, I realized we were on a wild goose chase.

　　Harry wondered if Potts had deliberately sent him on a wild goose chase.