misdirect

From mis- +‎ direct.

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misdirect (third-person singular simple present misdirects, present participle misdirecting, simple past and past participle misdirected)

1. To direct something wrongly
   • 2008, Chris Spannos, Real Utopia: Participatory Society for the 21st Century, page 96:

     Instead, in all contexts, markets instill antisocial motivations in buyers and sellers, misprice items that are exchanged, misdirect aims regarding what to produce in what quantities and by what means, misremunerate producers, introduce class division and class rule, and embody an imperial logic that spreads itself throughout economic life.

   • 2012 August 21, Ed Pilkington, “Death penalty on trial: should Reggie Clemons live or die?”, in The Guardian‎:

     In this account of events, the cards were stacked against Clemons from the beginning. His appeal lawyers have argued that he was physically beaten into making a confession, the jury was wrongfully selected and misdirected, and his conviction largely achieved on individual testimony with no supporting forensic evidence presented.

2. To direct attention away from covert actions or intended targets.
3. To put the incorrect address on a mail item

• creditism, miscredit