garden path

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

When she saw a union representative walking solemnly up the garden path, she knew the worst had happened.

From BBC • Feb. 29, 2024

I love being hoodwinked, led up the garden path, dazzled by red herrings and then awed into submission by an ingenious finale.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 13, 2023

Reflecting on his efforts to decode potato spindle tuber disease, he wryly told the New York Times, “we went up the garden path many times.”

From Washington Post • Apr. 13, 2023

Fist clenched against a surge of shame and disappointment, she left along the garden path.

From Slate • Nov. 27, 2021

Yet another lure into a garden path comes from the statistical patterns of the English language, in which certain words are likely to precede or follow others.

From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker