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# misdirection

«misdirection» in Mova's school dictionary: **Making people look at or think about the wrong thing so…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 3 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (misdirection — usually uncountable)

### meaning for a pupil

1) Making people look at or think about the wrong thing so they don't notice what is really happening, used by magicians and tricksters. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/misdirection/#m1)

2) Sending someone the wrong way or giving wrong instructions. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/misdirection/#m2)

### sense in the lessons

In lessons about truth, lies and tricks: magicians use misdirection — they make you look at one hand while the other hand does the trick; scammers and some adverts use misdirection too, so pay attention to what you are not being shown. In stories: a mystery writer uses misdirection to hide the real culprit.

### examples

- The magician used misdirection to hide the coin. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/misdirection/#x1)
- While he talked, his other hand did the trick – that's misdirection. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/misdirection/#x2)
- Mystery stories use misdirection to surprise readers. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/misdirection/#x3)
- The scammer's email used misdirection to get people to click. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/misdirection/#x4)
- Pickpockets use misdirection to steal wallets. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/misdirection/#x5)
- A wrong road sign caused a lot of misdirection. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/misdirection/#x6)

### note

Usually uncountable. Prefix mis- (wrongly) + direction. Related verb: misdirect. Knowing about misdirection helps you spot tricks — it is not real magic.

### In the corpora

- [Sleight of hand is quick, practised hand movement you don't notice; misdirection steers your attention away from the secret move.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/279-april-fools-and-magic-tricks/7/)
- [Misdirection means steering people's attention away from the secret move.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/279-april-fools-and-magic-tricks/21/)
- [The heart of most tricks is misdirection — making you look one way while the secret happens somewhere else.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/448-the-magicians-trick-explained/6/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «misdirection» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/misdirection/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.