smokescreen

See also: smoke screen

English

Alternative forms

• smoke screen

Etymology

From smoke +‎ screen.

Pronunciation

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

smokescreen (plural smokescreens)

1. Smoke used as a disguise, mask or cover, as of troops in battle.
   • 1951, Herman Wouk, The Caine Mutiny, Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Chapter 25, Part 5, p. 284,^[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.

2. (figuratively) Anything used metaphorically to conceal or distract.

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

   • 1968, Desmond Bagley, The Vivero Letter, Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Chapter 8, p. 163,^[2]

     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.

Translations

smoke used as a disguise, mask or cover

• Armenian: ծխածածկույթ (hy) (cxacackuytʻ)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 煙幕／烟幕 (zh) (yānmù), 烟幕 (zh) (yānmù)

• Dutch: rookgordijn (nl) n
• Estonian: suitsukate
• Finnish: savuverho (fi)
• French: écran de fumée (fr) m, rideau de fumée m
• Galician: cortina de fume f
• German: Nebelwand f, Nebelvorhand m, Nebelschleier m, Deckmantel (de) m, Rauchvorhang m
• Hungarian: ködfüggöny
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Irish: brat deataigh m
• Japanese: 煙幕 (えんまく, enmaku)
• Korean: 연막 (yeonmak) (煙幕 (ko))
• Latvian: dūmu aizsegs m
• Polish: zasłona dymna (pl) f
• Portuguese: cortina de fumaça f (Brasil), cortina de fumo f (Portugal)
• Russian: дымова́я заве́са (ru) f (dymovája zavésa)
• Spanish: cortina de humo f
• Swedish: rökridå c
• Turkish: sis perdesi (tr)

anything used (metaphorically) to conceal or distract

• Armenian: ծխածածկույթ (hy) (cxacackuytʻ)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Finnish: savuverho (fi)
• French: écran de fumée (fr) m
• Galician: cortina de fume f
• German: Vorwand (de) m, Ablenkung (de) f, Ablenkungsmanöver (de) n
• Hungarian: ködösítés (hu), félrevezetés (hu), elterelés (hu), álca (hu)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Japanese: 煙幕 (えんまく, enmaku)
• Korean: 연막 (yeonmak)
• Latvian: aizsegs m
• Portuguese: cortina de fumaça f (Brasil), cortina de fumo f (Portugal)
• Spanish: cortina de humo f
• Swedish: rökridå
• Turkish: sis perdesi (tr)

See also

• smoke test