make a mountain out of a molehill

noun

1. a small mound or ridge of earth raised up by a mole or moles burrowing under the ground.

Idioms

2. make a mountain out of a molehill, to exaggerate a minor difficulty.

noun

1. the small mound of earth thrown up by a burrowing mole
2. make a mountain out of a molehill to exaggerate an unimportant matter out of all proportion

n.also mole-hill, mid-15c., from mole (2) + hill (n.). To much amplifying thinges yt. be but small, makyng mountaines of Molehils. [John Foxe, “Acts and Monuments,” 1570] To blow an issue or event out of proportion: “You have only a small blister on your heel, but you complain as though you broke your leg. Why are you making a mountain out of a molehill?” Exaggerate trifling difficulties, as in If you forgot you racket you can borrow one—don’t make a mountain out of a molehill. This expression, alluding to the barely raised tunnels created by moles, was first recorded in John Fox’s The Book of Martyrs (1570). see make a mountain out of a molehill.