WordNet
misplaced modifier
n. a word or phrase apparently modifying an unintended word because of its placement in a sentence: e.g., `when young' in `when young, circuses appeal to all of us' [syn: dangling modifier]
Usage examples of "misplaced modifier".
Sentences diagrammed on the blackboard: beware the misplaced modifier.
He could hear his classmates murmuring quietly together, and the riffle of pages as they checked their own Final Essays for that crucial misplaced modifier or fuzzy phrase, but these sounds seemed far away.