false colours
Britishplural noun
-
a flag to which one is not entitled, flown esp in order to deceive
the ship was sailing under false colours
-
an assumed or misleading name or guise
to trade under false colours
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The new photographs include images in false colours that clearly show the shape of Carn Glas.
From BBC ● Sep. 26, 2023
Among the other charges against Achikou was one which said that he was sailing under false colours.
From The Birth of Yugoslavia, Volume 2 by Henry Baerlein
This is the article, my countrymen, which knaves and blockheads have so often dressed up in false colours, and requested your attention to the construction of it.
From Essays on the Constitution of the United States by Paul Leicester Ford
"Blessings rather on the manly boy who wouldn't keep it under false colours," said the president with a smile.
From Lucy Maud Montgomery Short Stories, 1905 to 1906 by L. M. (Lucy Maud) Montgomery
She felt suddenly guilty, as though she were in some way parading in false colours.
From Stubble by George Looms
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
