Amphiboly

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Amphiboly \Am*phib"o*ly\, n.; pl. {Amphibolies}. [L. amphibolia,
     Gr. ?: cf. OE. amphibolie. See {Amphibolous}.]
     Ambiguous discourse; amphibology.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           If it oracle contrary to our interest or humor, we will


           create an amphiboly, a double meaning where there is
           none.                                    --Whitlock.
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  amphiboly
       n : an ambiguous grammatical construction; e.g., `they are
           flying planes' can mean either that someone is flying
           planes or that something is flying planes [syn: {amphibology}]