Tilting at windmills

Posted by R. Berg on December 01, 2001

In Reply to: Tilting at windmills posted by Barney on November 30, 2001

: : I see the phrase 'tilting at windmills' every now and again. What does it mean? Does it come from Don Quixote?

: Yes.

And, to answer your first question, it means attacking what one falsely believes to be an enemy or a threat. Nowadays the attack is usually verbal.