Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A smoked herring having a reddish color.
- noun Something that draws attention away from the matter being discussed or dealt with.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A smoke-cured and salt-brined herring strong enough to turn the flesh red; a type of
kipper . - noun figuratively A clue or information that is or is intended to be
misleading , that diverts attention from a question.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a first draft of a prospectus; must be clearly marked to indicate that parts may be changed in the final prospectus
- noun a dried and smoked herring having a reddish color
- noun any diversion intended to distract attention from the main issue
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
[Sense 2, probably from the use of smoked herrings to lay scent trails for hounds to follow.]
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Until 2008, the accepted etymology of the idiom was that red herring were used to train dogs to track scents. This has proven to be a false etymology.
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Examples
Sorry, no example sentences found.
whichbe commented on the word red herring
A distraction from the real issues.
May 21, 2008
dontcry commented on the word red herring
By purpose.
July 19, 2008
vanishedone commented on the word red herring
World Wide Words has a fairly lengthy article on the origin of the term.
October 18, 2008