smokescreen

noun

Etymology: Etymology tree English smoke English screen English smokescreen From smoke + screen.

1. Smoke used as a disguise, mask or cover, as of troops in battle.

   “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.”

   “C.I.E. Class "D14" 4-4-0 No. 89 covers its tracks with a magnificent smokescreen as it pulls out of Dun Laoghaire with the 9.0 a.m. boat train for Dublin.”

2. Anything used metaphorically to conceal or distract.

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

   “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.”