OXFORD 9000
📚 verb • entry_id 16340

see the forest for the trees

Meanings (ES + gloss)
no dejar los árboles ver el bosque
To discern an overall pattern from a mass of detail; to see the big picture, or the broader, more general situation.
It is, indeed, the principal drawback to the study of London that she is too vast—that the student is ever in danger of "not seeing the forest for the trees."
Smith is good at detail, but can't see the forest for the trees.
Phrases
No hay frases