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Pipe dream

//ˈpaɪp driːm// noun

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A desire or idea which is unlikely to materialize, or a plan which is unlikely to work; a near impossibility. idiomatic

    "I think that his plan to become a professional athlete is a pipe dream and that he should stay in school."

  2. 2
    a fantastic but vain hope (from fantasies induced by the opium pipe) wordnet

Etymology

From pipe + dream, referring to the fantasies experienced when smoking an opium pipe. Compare Old English pīpdrēam (“the sound or music of a pipe”), which is formed identically but has a different meaning.

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