RED HERRING • DICCIONARIO INGLES.COM • Definition of Red herring

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/rɛd hˈɛrɪŋ/ Listen

Red herring

noun

Any diversion intended to distract attention from the main issue.

A dried and smoked herring having a reddish color. Synonym: smoked herring.

A first draft of a prospectus; must be clearly marked to indicate that parts may be changed in the final prospectus. Synonym: preliminary prospectus.

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Etymology of 'Red herring'

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"Red herring" Quotes from Famous Books

... which started up with a yell of alarm and dashed off down the street. Tommy drew back into a doorway. In a minute he had the pleasure of seeing his two pursuers, of whom the German was one, industriously tracking down the red herring! ...

— The Secret Adversary • Agatha Christie

... she's done for. Since Stephanie made that fuss about juniors coming into senior rooms I mayn't ask her into V B; so if she's ostracized by her own form too she'll be neither fish, flesh, fowl, nor good red herring. No; however I find out it mustn't be ...

— For the Sake of the School • Angela Brazil

... and brandishes in the faces of those who are unfortunate enough to awaken his choler. It is only a few days since that I rescued the maid-servant of the house from his grasp, whom otherwise he would undoubtedly have killed, and all because she too much burnt a red herring which he had given her to cook. You perhaps wonder that I retain a person of this description, but, bad as he is, he is the best servant I can obtain; he is very honest, a virtue which is rarely to be found in a Spanish ...

— Letters of George Borrow - to the British and Foreign Bible Society • George Borrow

... he will," cried Peter, eagerly sniffing at the red herring Lancelot had thrown across the track. "You stand out for a royalty on every copy, so that if you strike ile—oh, I beg your pardon, that's another of the phrases ...

— The Grey Wig: Stories and Novelettes • Israel Zangwill

Words linked to "Red herring" : course catalogue, deflexion, course catalog, prospectus, divagation, deflection, diversion, digression, herring, deviation