Lexic.us

Definition of Misplaced modifier

1. Noun. 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'.

Lexicographical Neighbors of Misplaced Modifier

Literary usage of Misplaced modifier

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. A Minimum Course in Rhetoric by Henry Copp Edgar (1922)
"misplaced modifier: Two peasants were digging holes in their blue blouses along the side of ... A common variety of misplaced modifier is a relative clause. ..."

2. Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education by National Society for the Study of Education (1917)
"... adjectives Confusion of comparatives and superlatives Confusion of adjectives and adverbs misplaced modifier Double negative Confusion of prepositions ..."

3. The Outlines of Rhetoric for School and Colleges by Joseph Henry Gilmore (1891)
"That a misplaced modifier not only obscures the meaning, but also has a ludicrous effect, is sufficiently illustrated in the author's Art of Expression, p. ..."

4. Conference on Assessing the Effects of Legislation on the Workload of the edited by A. Fletcher Magnum (1998)
"... legislators have little incentive to "line up as an 'enem[y] of the dangling participle' or foe of the misplaced modifier."60 More aggressive approaches ..."

5. Outlines of Rhetoric: Embodied in Rules, Illustrative Examples, and a by John Franklin Genung (1898)
"It is not always that a misplaced modifier causes positive ambiguity; yet the question is always open, what is the best place for it ? ..."

6. Practical English Composition by Carolyn M. Gerrish, Margaret Cunningham (1912)
"To correct such an error, the misplaced modifier must be put where it can modify but one word. The sentence under discussion may be corrected in one of two ..."

7. Second Report of the Committee on Minimal Essentials in Elementary-School by Guy Montrose Whipple, Harry Bruce Wilson (1917)
"... comparison of adjectives Confusion of comparatives and superlatives Confusion of adjectives and adverbs misplaced modifier Double negative Confusion of ..."

8. Bulletin by University of the State of New York (1919)
"Drill upon the correct form for misplaced modifier. Drill on pronunciation of rinse, theater, guardian, licorice, athlete, wrestle. Grammar During this year ..."

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