smoke screen

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.

Categories:

Source: A Dictionary of American Idioms

To section: S

Subscribe to: American Idioms

✉

Our RSS-channels

Show All

See as well

smoke out

[smoke out] {v. phr.} 1. To force out with smoke. * /The boys smoked a squirrel out of a hollow tree./ * /The farmer tried to smoke some gophers out […] A Dictionary of American Idioms

go up in smoke

[go up in smoke] or [go up in flames] {v. phr.} 1. To burn; be destroyed by fire. * /The house went up in flames./ * /The barn full of […] A Dictionary of American Idioms

smoke

[smoke] See: [CHAIN-SMOKE], [GO UP IN FLAMES] or [GO UP IN SMOKE], [PUT THAT IN YOUR PIPE AND SMOKE IT], [WATCH ONE'S DUST] or [WATCH ONE'S SMOKE]. A Dictionary of American Idioms

screen test

[screen test] {n.} A short movie made to see if an actor or actress is good enough or the right one to play a part. * /Ellen acted well on […] A Dictionary of American Idioms

Recent updates

лёгок на помине

[лёгок на помине] {turn of speech} [`l'iogok na po`minye] {literally} ~volatile if/while mentioned. {informal} […]

attributed to Oliver Cromwell

Put your trust in God--but keep your powder dry.

pull out of a hat

[pull out of a hat] {v. phr.}, {informal} To get as if by magic; invent; imagine. * /When the introduction to a dictionary […]

read between the lines

[read between the lines] {v. phr.} To understand all of a writer's meaning by guessing at what he has left unsaid. * /Some […]