Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Of or relating to a sentence that is easily misparsed, as The horse raced past the barn fell, in which people usually misinterpret raced as a simple past tense verb, leading to a nonsensical interpretation, instead of as a passive participle, yielding the correct interpretation The horse, which was raced past the barn, fell.
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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It's a classic garden-path sentence: "Across the harbour the wind roared, tossing small ships and large, across the city itself, gleaming white beneath the unfettered sun, spires and walls and color-ringed domes, streets and canals bustling with storied southern industry."
Robert Jordan, Wheel of Time 8: The Path of Daggers (1998) Adam Roberts 2010
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Mr. Goon, not feeling very satisfied, departed ponderously down the garden-path, annoyed to find that his bicycle had suddenly developed a puncture in the front tyre.
Separate Douglas Light 2010
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He took the candle from her hand, held it to the ground, and removed a tile which lay in the garden-path.
The Woodlanders 2006
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Once during the day he met her in the garden-path, and said, turning a reproachful eye upon her, ‘Do you promise, Lizzy?’
Wessex Tales 2006
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The garden-path stretched downward from his feet, gleaming like the track of a snail; the roof of the little well (mostly dry), the well-cover, the top rail of the garden-gate, were varnished with the same dull liquid glaze; while, far away in the vale, a faint whiteness of more than usual extent showed that the rivers were high in the meads.
Wessex Tales 2006
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Thence she skimmed up the garden-path, through the gap in the hedge, and into the mossy cart-track under the trees which led into the depth of the woods.
The Woodlanders 2006
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I think these things are almost (though not quite) as much fun as garden-path sentences (which are things like "The horse raced past the barn fell").
Archive 2006-03-01 StyleyGeek 2006
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Do you imagine that I have ever crossed our own lawn, or gone down through the garden-path there, without thinking of the times when he and I walked there together?
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She stood out into the garden-path, the stile being still between them, and seizing a side of her skirt with each hand, performed the movements which are even yet far from uncommon in the dances of the villagers of merry England.
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Mr. Pendril and Mr. Clare advanced into view along the garden-path, walking arm-in-arm through the rain, sheltered by the same umbrella.
No Name 2003
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