put off the scent

put someone off the scent

Fig. to distract someone or a group from following a scent or trail. (From put a dog off the scent; the scent or trail can be purely figurative. (See also put someone off the track.) The clever maneuvers of the bandits put the sheriffs posse off the scent. The mob laundered the drug money to try to put investigators off the trail.

See also: put, scent

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put/throw somebody off the scent

if you throw someone off the scent, you give them false or confusing information to try to stop them discovering something

Usage notes: A scent is a smell produced by an animal which can act as a signal to other animals trying to find or follow it.

The police were thrown off the scent for a while by false evidence given by two of the witnesses.

See also: put, scent