Nouns

(n)red herringany diversion intended to distract attention from the main issue
(n)red herring, smoked herringa dried and smoked herring having a reddish color
(n)preliminary prospectus, red herringa first draft of a prospectus; must be clearly marked to indicate that parts may be changed in the final prospectus“because some portions of the cover page are printed in red ink a preliminary prospectus is sometimes called a red herring”