smokescreen — English Dictionary

Noun

1. Smoke used as a disguise, mask or cover, as of troops in battle.

   Examples

   More examples (1)

   Ensign Whitely began to tell of the surprise encounter of Admiral Sprague’s escort-carrier force with the main battle line of the Japanese Navy off Samar, in a chaos of rain squalls and smoke screens.

   C.I.E. Class "D14" 4-4-0 No. 89 covers its tracks with a magnificent smokescreen as it pulls out of Dun Laoghaire with the 9.0 a.m. boat train for Dublin.

   More examples (1)

   However, before most of this was experimentally and observationally discovered, they were perhaps best known for their “almost unique” ability to squirt ink when harangued, creating a smokescreen before jetting off to safety.

2. Anything used metaphorically to conceal or distract.

   Usage

   • Figurative

   Examples

   All that talk is just a smokescreen to disguise the fact that he has nothing to say.

   It was all very plausible and, as he poured out his smokescreen of words, I became fidgety for fear Fallon would be too direct with him.

Noun

1. (military) screen consisting of a cloud of smoke that obscures movements

   Synonyms

   smoke screen

   Broader terms

   screen

2. an action intended to conceal or confuse or obscure

   Synonyms

   smoke screen

   Broader terms

   concealmentconcealinghiding

   Examples

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