How to Use fishing expedition in a Sentence

fishing expedition

noun
  • This is just a huge fishing expedition that the law doesn't allow.
    — Ken Daley, NOLA.com, 12 Sep. 2017
  • That's called a fishing expedition, and the treaties don't allow it.
    — Tax Notes Staff, Forbes, 6 Nov. 2024
  • Now that’s the sort of fly-fishing expedition that might send Logan to the bait shop.
    — Scott Tobias, Vulture, 31 Oct. 2021
  • The principal cause is a large drop in the number of fishing expeditions in the state.
    — Justin Klawans, TheWeek, 12 Mar. 2026
  • To do this, a team in my lab went on a molecular fishing expedition inside human cells.
    — Nevan Krogan, University Of California, Discover Magazine, 24 Mar. 2020
  • Candela wants to make your next fishing expedition smoother and more sustainable.
    — Rachel Cormack, Robb Report, 4 Apr. 2023
  • Spota’s staff members, who would have had to request the warrants for that data, waved off the idea as a fishing expedition.
    — Robert Kolker, New York Times, 19 Oct. 2023
  • The staff here is ready to do anything for guests, from looking after their pets to booking a clay shooting or fishing expedition.
    — Alyson Krueger, Vogue, 27 Jan. 2018
  • In the 34 years since that fishing expedition, Cleri hasn't gone into the ocean deeper than his waist.
    — Jack Perry, The Providence Journal, 5 Jan. 2026
  • The father of three hasn’t been seen since going on a regular morning fishing expedition.
    — Alastair Jamieson, NBC News, 1 Feb. 2018
  • There are country walks, shoots, fishing expeditions and formal dinners.
    — Stephanie Nolasco , Ashley Papa, FOXNews.com, 28 Mar. 2026
  • But there's a little extra drama that did not make the episode, revolving around what should have been a simple fishing expedition.
    — Dalton Ross, EW.com, 20 Oct. 2022
  • Some courts have held that this kind of fishing expedition is analogous to the broad document requests in the Hubbell case.
    — Timothy B. Lee, Ars Technica, 11 Aug. 2020
  • And third, perhaps most importantly, the treaties don't allow for what's called a fishing expedition.
    — Tax Notes Staff, Forbes, 6 Nov. 2024
  • Democrats have denounced the inquiry as a fishing expedition and a political stunt.
    — Luke Broadwater, New York Times, 13 Dec. 2023
  • Criminologists and civil rights lawyers have panned the tactic as a fishing expedition rife with racial bias that yields few results.
    — NBC News, 7 Oct. 2021
  • For bigger marine thrills, a dolphin cruise yields sightings in the thousands, and a fishing expedition turns up sailfish the size of small children.
    — Condé Nast Traveler, 28 Dec. 2021
  • Jen invites all the Housewives to an ice-fishing expedition at Echo Lake in Coalville.
    — Scott D. Pierce, The Salt Lake Tribune, 27 Sep. 2021
  • The dishes were crafted from the Lodge's pesticide-free garden and with fresh catches from their fishing expeditions.
    — Josephine Wong, Condé Nast Traveler, 18 Apr. 2024
  • Data mining, fishing expeditions and data dredging are other descriptors that had been applied to the act of p-hacking.
    — Wired, 26 Nov. 2019
  • The case is a fishing expedition—or, more accurately, a case about fishing expeditions.
    — Matt Ford, The New Republic, 1 May 2023
  • The evaluation is a kind of fishing expedition, in which doctors thread an array of electrodes into the brain and wait for seizures to occur to see whether surgery might prevent them.
    — Benedict Carey, New York Times, 6 Feb. 2018
  • Ferrell’s shirts are made of lightweight, durable materials that are billed as being able to withstand a long day on the ranch, a fishing expedition or a hunting trip and still look good at the rodeo.
    — Lily O'Neill, San Antonio Express-News, 22 Apr. 2026
  • But until the systems improve, Nakashook has a new strategy for planning his weekend hunting and fishing expeditions.
    — Bypaul Voosen, science.org, 8 Mar. 2023
  • Following swimming lessons, fishing expeditions and some growing up, Leo eventually leaves his mother’s colony to find his own home.
    — Devonne Goode, Parents, 22 Apr. 2025
  • And given the current atmosphere, these sorts of deep-sea fishing expeditions into everyone’s past are likely to become standard.
    — David Gambacorta, Philly.com, 17 Dec. 2017
  • To top it off, the Snake River and other private creeks on the property allow for exclusive fishing expeditions.
    — Demetrius Simms, Robb Report, 16 June 2025
  • Michelson said the question was irrelevant to the case, and instructed Paterson to be more precise, rather than go off on fishing expeditions.
    — Joe Guillen, Detroit Free Press, 14 May 2018
  • Any fears of a fishing expedition can be assuaged by search protections already baked into the laws, Wexler told The Chronicle.
    — Megan Cassidy, SFChronicle.com, 21 Jan. 2020
  • By all indications, the DOJ data call is a massive fishing expedition.
    — Mary Ellen Klas, Mercury News, 12 Aug. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'fishing expedition.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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