-
- To save this word, you'll need to log in.
fishing expedition
noun
1
: a legal interrogation or examination to discover information for a later proceeding
2
: an investigation that does not stick to a stated objective but hopes to uncover incriminating or newsworthy evidence
Examples of fishing expedition in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
That's called a fishing expedition, and the treaties don't allow it.
—Tax Notes Staff, Forbes, 6 Nov. 2024
Rather, there are various incidents (a fishing expedition gone awry, a mysterious object appears under the sand, a storm ravages the lighthouse).
—Manuel Betancourt, Variety, 14 Dec. 2024
And third, perhaps most importantly, the treaties don't allow for what's called a fishing expedition.
—Tax Notes Staff, Forbes, 6 Nov. 2024
Courts likely won’t indulge a legal fishing expedition Boston College Law School’s Quinn argues the Amazon rainforest analogy doesn’t constitute fraud, so long as Altman wasn’t actively shopping for chainsaws at the time.
—Christiaan Hetzner, Fortune, 13 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for fishing expedition
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Word History
First Known Use
1874, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Time Traveler
The first known use of fishing expedition was
in 1874
Dictionary Entries Near fishing expedition
Cite this Entry
“Fishing expedition.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fishing%20expedition. Accessed 18 Jan. 2025.
Legal Definition
fishing expedition
noun
fish·ing ex·pe·di·tion
-ˌek-spə-ˈdi-shən
1
: an inquiry (as by the use of discovery) that is unnecessarily extensive or unrelated to the lawsuit
2
: an investigation that does not stick to a stated objective but hopes to uncover incriminating or newsworthy evidence
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share