misdirectionn.

1675 E. Borlase Reduct. Ireland 225 That no business for the advantage of Ireland might be delayed through the misdirections of Orders from his Majesty; he was pleased by his Letters January 4...directed to his Privy Council in Ireland..to grant..that his Subsidies there should be reduced.

1769 R. Burn Justice of Peace (ed. 11) III. 290 A misdirection of the certificate will not vitiate it. For the statute doth not require any particular direction; and therefore it is equally effectual, whether addressed to any particular place, or addressed in general terms.

1837 W. Whewell Hist. Inductive Sci. I. iv. iii. 282 The misdirection of their efforts.

1842 T. P. Thompson Exercises I. 228 The great object of fear to the middle classes, is the apprehended violence and misdirection of those with whom they think they would have to join.

1860 J. W. Carlyle Lett. III. 48 The two notes..were received together (on account of misdirection).

1912 ‘Saki’ Chron. Clovis 267 ‘Where I think you political spade-workers are so silly’, said the Duke, ‘is in the misdirection of your efforts.’

1937 Rev. Econ. Stud. 4 126 In a socialist economy there can be..misdirection of investments and production. But such misdirections need not lead to shrinkage of output.

1992 R. M. Davis Mid-lands ii. 23 Apparently I minded the work less than the misdirection.

1749 J. Cleland Mem. Woman of Pleasure II. 171 He was so fiercely set on a mis-direction, as to give the girl no small alarms for fear of loosing a maiden-head she had not dreamt of.

1760 E. Nihell Treat. Art Midwifery 332 But which ever way that mis-direction [of the uterus] points, the difficulty of the delivery is proportionable to the degree of it.

1828 E. Bulwer-Lytton Pelham II. xxvii. 305 I returned to my inn..inquired my way of every passenger I passed, and after innumerable misdirections—here I am.

1887 H. S. Holland Christ or Eccles. (1888) 8 We..wonder whether the entire movement of human life has not..taken some terrible misdirection.

1951 Amer. Lit. 22 531 [Wallace] Stevens is seen to be the hedonistic and robust believer in life, aware of its constant absurdities and misdirections.

1992 Amer. Scholar 61 501 In the 1970's, this antinomian idea fueled several psychiatric misdirections.

1768 W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. III. xxiii. 373 A new trial..is now very commonly had for the misdirection of the judge at nisi prius.

1792 S. Kyd Comyns's Digest Laws Eng. (ed. 3) V. 505 Where a new trial is moved for on the ground of a misdirection in point of law, if the court see that justice has been done between the parties, they will not set aside the verdict.

1834 D. Graham Ess. New Trials ix. 269 The opinion of the court, granting a new trial, was finally put upon the misdirection of the judge.

1875 Act 38 & 39 Vict. c. 77 Order xxxix A new trial shall not be granted on the ground of misdirection..unless..some substantial wrong or miscarriage has been thereby occasioned in the trial of the action.

1918 Brit. Ruling Cases VII. 561 An application was made for a new trial by the defendants on the ground of misdirection.

1998 Times 25 June 44/7 As there was no misdirection in law..the appeal tribunal could not interfere.

1897 H. R. Evans in A. A. Hopkins Magic Stage Illusions 22 His ‘misdirection’, to use a technical expression, was beyond expression.

1937 Reader's Digest Sept. 94/2 I purposely kept your logical mind on the construction of the box, thereby making you the victim of what magicians call misdirection.

1943 A. Christie Moving Finger x. 124 A conjuring trick... You've got to make people look at the wrong thing and in the wrong place—Misdirection, they call it.

1971 P. O'Donnell Impossible Virgin iv. 71 There had been callers at the house... None of them had been genuine... It was all part of a misdirection play.

1998 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 6 Mar. c1/6 In the deficit's case, it hasn't been so much slain as concealed by misdirection, as magicians do.