a fishing expedition idiom mainly US
(通常指秘密地)收罗信息、资料(用于调查揭示真相)
an attempt to discover the facts about something by collecting a lot of information, often secretly
The investigators' request for the company's accounts is simply a fishing expedition - they have no real evidence of wrongdoing. 调查员要求查公司的账只是一个收集信息的手段——他们没有违规操作的真实证据。