smoke screen
nounDefinition of smoke screen
1
: a screen of smoke to hinder enemy observation of a military force, area, or activity
2
: something designed to obscure, confuse, or mislead
Examples of smoke screen in a Sentence
His campaign promises were just a smoke screen.
The truth was hidden behind a smoke screen of lies.
Recent Examples on the Web
One winning bidder is now legally able to drive in an actual James Bond Aston Martin, with working nail spreaders, tire slashers, smoke screen and rotating license plates. — Cnn.com Wire Service, The Mercury News, "This James Bond Aston Martin was just auctioned for $6.4 million in Monterey," 16 Aug. 2019 National environmental groups say the safety issue is a smoke screen to create a road that would eventually be opened to commercial traffic. — Dan Joling, Anchorage Daily News, "Deal reached on land swap for road through Izembek wildlife refuge," 25 July 2019 All 13 of its Bond modifications are fully-functioning, including a Browning .30 caliber machine gun in each fender, wheel-hub mounted tire-slashers, smoke screen dispensers, revolving license plates and more, says RM Sotheby’s. — Rebekah Tuchscherer, USA TODAY, "With a license to drive and $4 million, you can buy James Bond's Aston Martin from 'Goldfinger'," 13 June 2019 From the documentation Facebook has given, a reasonable person might conclude that the problem statement exists entirely as a smoke screen. — Elizabeth Lopatto, The Verge, "Facebook’s Libra probably won’t help people without bank accounts," 27 June 2019 All of the Bond modifications are fully functioning following a full restoration, so the winning bidder will be able to make use of smoke screen dispensers, revolving license plates, and a passenger-seat ejection system. — Cnn.com Wire Service, The Mercury News, "Aston Martin DB5: James Bond car to fetch up to $6 million at Monterey auction," 13 June 2019 Opponents of marijuana legalization say that addressing the racial disparity in arrests in noble, but call it a smoke screen by the pot industry to keep minority and poor communities hooked on the drug. — Leon Stafford, ajc, "Forest Park lessens possession penalty on small amounts of marijuana," 6 July 2018 The kink community thinks Schneiderman is using role-play as a smoke screen for abuse, subverting its own struggle for acceptance. — New York Times, "News of an ‘Outrage’ Used to Mean Something Very, Very Different," 23 May 2018 But given that the U.S. and Chinese trade threats are still shaking out, some analysts wondered if Daimler was using the tariffs as a smoke screen to conceal problems with its product lineup. — William Boston, WSJ, "Trade Concerns Hammer Global Auto Stocks," 21 June 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'smoke screen.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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