2005
Search results
The phrase "tilting at windmills" to describe an act of attacking imaginary enemies (or an act of extreme idealism), derives from an iconic scene in the book. It stands in a unique position between medieval romance and the modern novel.
These days ’tilting at windmills’ refers to attacks of a less militaristic nature. The first figurative references to tilting at windmills, that is one where no jousting took place, came in the 17th century.
Jan 20, 2022 · Tilting at Windmills Meaning. If you're "tilting at windmills," it means that you're fighting imaginary enemies and wasting your time worrying about the outcome of the engagement. For instance, if you find yourself getting angry or emotional at a task or someone else's life that you have no control over, you're "tilting at windmills." So, it ...
Tilting at windmills means fighting imaginary enemies. The idiom tilting at windmills is first seen in the English language in the 1640s as “…fight with the windmills…” The verb tilting was soon substituted for the word fight.
To pursue a fruitless course or attack nonexistent enemies. This expression comes from Cervantes’s famous hero, Don Quixote, who rides with his lance at full tilt (poised to attack) upon a row of windmills, which he mistakes for evil giants ( Don Quixote, Part 1, chapter 8; 1605).
Dec 7, 2010 · The meaning of TILT AT WINDMILLS is to use time and energy to attack an enemy or problem that is not real or important.
waste your energy attacking imaginary enemies: For some reason he thinks everyone is out to get him, but he’s really just tilting at windmills. This expression comes from Cervantes’ novel Don Quixote, in which the hero thought that the windmills he saw were giants and tried to fight them.
in English. tilt at windmills. idiom literary. Add to word list. to fight enemies who do not really exist. SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases. Fighting. armed combat. arms.
Tilting at windmills. Means wasting time and effort with imaginary obstacles and first appears in the form of ‘fighting with windmills’ from the mid-17th century. The expression derives from Cervantes Don Quixote (1605) when Don Quixote mistook windmills for giants with flailing arms and wanted to tilt at them (joust) with his lance. The ...
To pursue a fruitless course or attack nonexistent enemies. This expression comes from Cervantes’s famous hero, Don Quixote, who rides with his lance at full tilt (poised to attack) upon a row of windmills, which he mistakes for evil giants ( Don Quixote, Part 1, chapter 8; 1605).
