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
When Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., says the nation will know by the end of the summer what environmental factors cause autism and calls for the private medical records of autistic people as part of this push, this is a fishing expedition.
—
Megha Satyanarayana, Scientific American, 25 Apr. 2025
Later, hundreds of fraternity and sorority students were interviewed by third-party investigators and informed that failure to comply with this fishing expedition would result in serious disciplinary action.
—Wynn Smiley, Baltimore Sun, 24 Apr. 2025
Remember, these fake tickets are just fishing expeditions.
—Kurt Knutsson, Cyberguy Report, Fox News, 10 Feb. 2025
Oakley’s attorneys portray MSG’s demands for copies of the loan applications as an irrelevant fishing expedition.
—Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 3 Sep. 2019
See All Example Sentences for fishing expedition
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Megha Satyanarayana, Scientific American, 25 Apr. 2025
Later, hundreds of fraternity and sorority students were interviewed by third-party investigators and informed that failure to comply with this fishing expedition would result in serious disciplinary action.
—Wynn Smiley, Baltimore Sun, 24 Apr. 2025
Remember, these fake tickets are just fishing expeditions.
—Kurt Knutsson, Cyberguy Report, Fox News, 10 Feb. 2025
Oakley’s attorneys portray MSG’s demands for copies of the loan applications as an irrelevant fishing expedition.
—Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 3 Sep. 2019
See All Example Sentences for fishing expedition
Cite this Entry
“Fishing expedition.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fishing%20expedition. Accessed 3 May. 2025.
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