What does the expression "tilting at windmills" mean?

Question

And has anyone read the book Tilting at Windmills by Julian Branston? If so, why does Denia spread the rumour that Cervantes is being considered for the court poet after the emperor dies?

Thank you exaybachay. I'm actually doing a book report on this book and didn't know much about the character of Don Quixote. I'm pretty sure the entire book is a mockery of Don Quixote because in the book, there is this senile old man who "becomes a knight" and he wears his armor upsidedown and rides his horse backwards.

Answer 1

I don't know the book, but it certainly sounds like a parody of Don Quixote. "Tilting" was a medieval sport, a kind of jousting, in which two knights rode at each other with their lances and tried to knock each other off their horses. Don Quixote does this at windmills, which he mistakes for giants. The expression has come to mean making an issue of something not worth it or combatting an imaginary opponent.

Answer 2

Tilting at windmills means following some crazy dream.

It comes from Cervantes' "Don Quixote," where the hero believes several windmills in his path are really evil giants with outstretched arms. He arms himself with a lance and charges at them on his horse (tilting). It isn't necessarily pejorative, as Don Quixote is a romantic hero. I don't know about the other book.

Answer 3

I thought the Sharks were gonna lose 6-1 after that awful first period. They pulled it together, but I definitely wouldn't say they dominated. Unless the Wings become the 3rd team in history to come back from a 0-3 deficit, the Sharks will take the series, but I don't see a comeback happening.

Answer 4

following a crazy dream, or wasting your time.