garden-path

[ gahr-dn-path, -pahth ]

adjective

1. noting or pertaining to a sentence that is easily parsed incorrectly because its beginning suggests it has an interpretation that it clearly does not have.

Example Sentences

Among the hardest are what psycholinguists call garden-path sentences, like “The cotton clothes are made up of grows in Mississippi.”

From New York Times

“I wonder what you have been doing. Leading Frank Crawley up the garden-path?”

From Literature

He heard footsteps on the garden-path.

From Project Gutenberg

He ran backwards and forwards at a great pace for some moments, then he gave a spring forward and downward towards the narrow garden-path.

From Project Gutenberg

Anyone who liked to cart away a few loads for the purpose of gravelling his garden-path was at liberty to do so.

From Project Gutenberg