smoke screen

smoke screen
noun
1. (military) screen consisting of a cloud of smoke that obscures movements
• Syn: ↑smokescreen
• Hypernyms: ↑screen
2. an action intended to conceal or confuse or obscure
-

requesting new powers of surveillance is just a smokescreen to hide their failures

• Syn: ↑smokescreen
• Hypernyms: ↑concealment, ↑concealing, ↑hiding

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noun
1. : a screen or cloud of smoke: as
a. : a screen of smoke designed to hinder enemy observation of a military force, area, or activity
b. : a heavy smoke supplied by smudge pots and designed to protect orchards and other plantings from injury by frost
2. : something designed to obscure, confuse, or mislead

seek immunity from criticism behind a rhetorical smoke screen about academic freedom — Sidney Hook

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1. a mass of dense smoke produced to conceal an area, vessel, or plane from the enemy.
2. something intended to disguise, conceal, or deceive; camouflage.
[1910-15]

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smoke screen,
1. a mass of thick smoke used to hide troops, ships, airplanes, or other equipment or maneuvers from the enemy.
2. Figurative: »

Seasoned observers of the Irish scene believe that the Partition provides an ideological smoke screen for a policy embarrasing to most Irishmen (Newsweek).

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(also smokescreen) n. a cloud of smoke created to conceal military operations
■ figurative a ruse designed to disguise someone's real intentions or activities

he tried to create a smokescreen by quibbling about the statistics

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noun, pl ⋯ screens [count]
1 : something that you do or say to hide something or to take attention away from something

His campaign promises were just a smoke screen.

The truth was hidden behind a smoke screen of lies.

2 : a cloud of thick smoke that is used to hide ships, soldiers, etc.

Useful english dictionary. 2012.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • smoke screen — 1915, as a form of military camouflage, from SMOKE (Cf. smoke) (n.1); 1926 in the fig. sense. The association of smoke with deception, deliberate obscurity dates back to at least 1565 …   Etymology dictionary

  • smoke screen — n. 1. a cloud of smoke spread to screen the movements of troops, ships, etc. 2. anything said or done to conceal or mislead …   English World dictionary

  • smoke screen — smoke ,screen noun count 1. ) something that you say or do as a way of hiding your real feelings, intentions, or activities 2. ) a cloud of smoke that is created to hide the movements of soldiers …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • smoke screen — smoke′ screen n. 1) mil a mass of dense smoke produced to conceal an area, vessel, or plane from the enemy 2) something intended to disguise, conceal, or deceive • Etymology: 1910–15 …   From formal English to slang

  • smoke screen — index disguise, subterfuge Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • Smoke screen — For the Transformers character, see Smokescreen (Transformers) A smoke screen is a release of smoke in order to mask the movement or location of military units such as infantry, tanks, aircraft or ships.It is most commonly deployed in a canister …   Wikipedia

  • smoke screen — n. to lay (down) a smoke screen * * * to lay (down) a smoke screen …   Combinatory dictionary

  • smoke screen — {n. phr.} A camouflage; a veil; something used to cover or hide something. * /June hides her commercial interests behind a smoke screen of religious piety./ …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • smoke screen — {n. phr.} A camouflage; a veil; something used to cover or hide something. * /June hides her commercial interests behind a smoke screen of religious piety./ …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • smoke\ screen — n. phr. A camouflage; a veil; something used to cover or hide something. June hides her commercial interests behind a smoke screen of religious piety …   Словарь американских идиом

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