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dangling modifier. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
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English
Noun
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- Being over two hundred years old, I had difficulty reading the document.
- (it is the document that is old, not the reader)
- I know a man with a wooden leg called Smith.
- (Smith is the man, not the leg)
- A hangover often occurs after drinking too much.
- The hangover isn't drinking too much. Rather, a hangover often occurs after someone drinks too much.
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dangling modifier (plural dangling modifiers)
- (grammar) A word or clause that qualifies another word or clause ambiguously, possibly causing confusion with regard to the intended meaning.
- Hyponym: dangling participle
2004, Wynford Hicks, Quite Literally: Problem Words and how to Use Them, Psychology Press, →ISBN, page 45:The dangling modifier is a curse of modern writing, particularly obituaries.
Translations
Further reading
dangling modifier on Wikipedia.Wikipedia 