dangling modifier

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun grammar A word or clause that modifies another word or clause ambiguously, possibly causing confusion with regard to the speaker's intended meaning.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun a word or phrase apparently modifying an unintended word because of its placement in a sentence: e.g., `when young' in `when young, circuses appeal to all of us'