amphibology Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun an ambiguous grammatical construction; e.g., `they are flying planes' can mean either that someone is flying planes or that something is flying planes
    amphiboly.

WordNet

Am`phi*bol"o*gy noun
Etymology
L. amphibologia, for amphibolia, fr. Gr. , with the ending -logia as if fr. Gr. ambiguous + speech: cf. F. amphibologie. See Amphiboly.
Wordforms
plural Amphibologies
Definitions
  1. A phrase, discourse, or proposition, susceptible of two interpretations; and hence, of uncertain meaning. It differs from equivocation, which arises from the twofold sense of a single term.

Webster 1913