Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

red herring

 noun
     
red herring [countable]
a fact or idea that is not important but is introduced to take your attention away from the points that are important
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

Dictionary pictures of the day
Do you know what each of these is called?
What is the word for picture 1? What is the word for picture 2? What is the word for picture 3? What is the word for picture 4?
Click on any of the pictures above to find out what it is called.

Explore our topic dictionary

Browse the dictionary