To bark up the wrong tree is to mistakenly blame someone for a wrong or
error committed by someone else.
“The
police arrested the victim instead of the offender. They’re barking up the wrong tree in their
investigation.”
This blog is for English-as-a-second-language (ESL) and English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) students who wish to improve their command and comprehension of the English language. It is a collection of English idioms and phrases arranged alphabetically, with brief explanation and examples. Simple but colorful illustrations (taken from Google images) are also provided. You can follow my blog by entering your email address below. Have fun learning!
I'd say "to bark up the wrong tree" is more general than that, it can imply you're looking for the cause of or the solution for a problem in the wrong place, or just be wrong about what you think the reason is for a problem etc.
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