Red herring Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun any diversion intended to distract attention from the main issue
  2. noun a dried and smoked herring having a reddish color
    smoked herring.
  3. noun a first draft of a prospectus; must be clearly marked to indicate that parts may be changed in the final prospectus
    preliminary prospectus.
    • because some portions of the cover page are printed in red ink a preliminary prospectus is sometimes called a red herring

WordNet

Definitions
  1. the common herring dried and smoked. Fig. something that merely distracts attention from the basic issue; esp. something irrelevant to the issue at hand, or something which is not true or does not exist.

Webster 1913