false colours

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pl n

a flag to which one is not entitled, flown esp in order to deceivethe ship was sailing under false colours

an assumed or misleading name or guiseto trade under false colours

QUIZ

QUIZ YOURSELF ON "WAS" VS. "WERE"!

Were you ready for a quiz on this topic? Well, here it is! See how well you can differentiate between the uses of "was" vs. "were" in this quiz.

Question 1 of 7

“Was” is used for the indicative past tense of “to be,” and “were” is only used for the subjunctive past tense.

true

false

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Words nearby false colours

false cirrus, false cognate, false color, false colors, false colour, false colours, false conjugate, false consciousness, false cyst, false dawn, False Decretals

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

How to use false colours in a sentence

And no issue should be defined by its outliers because it paints a false picture.
Bill de Blasio’s Tea Party Problem|Will Cain|December 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He has contributed to a false picture of law enforcement based on isolated injustices.
Bill de Blasio’s Tea Party Problem|Will Cain|December 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST
“Nothing else to do” was the most common response for why people chose to go to The Ball, though that rang a little false to me.
The Craziest Date Night for Single Jews, Where Mistletoe Is Ditched for Shots|Emily Shire|December 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He quotes an unnamed cardinal saying that the conclave voters knew the charges were false.
How Pope Francis Became the World’s BFF|Jason Berry|December 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Once people with ID are arrested, they are particularly susceptible to making coerced and often false confessions.
How the U.S. Justice System Screws Prisoners with Disabilities|Elizabeth Picciuto|December 16, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Liking for a single colour is a considerably smaller display of mind than an appreciation of the relation of two colours.
Children's Ways|James Sully
But the sheer quantity of the inflated currency and false money forces prices higher still.
The Unsolved Riddle of Social Justice|Stephen Leacock
Admiration for brilliant colours, for moving things, such as feathers, is common to the two.
Children's Ways|James Sully
The rest is done by cutting away two upper and four under-teeth, and substituting false ones at the desired angle.
Checkmate|Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
He was thrashed at school before the Jews and the hubshi, for the heinous crime of bringing home false reports of progress.
Kipling Stories and Poems Every Child Should Know, Book II|Rudyard Kipling