wrong scent, to be on the

wrong scent, to be on the

To follow a false trail or track. This term, which comes from hunting with hounds, was already being used figuratively in Shakespeare’s time. Laurence Sterne used it in Tristram Shandy (1705): “Tristram found he was up on a wrong scent.”
See also: on, wrong
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
See also:
  • be (flat) on (one's) back
  • flat on (one's) back
  • flat on back
  • flat on one's back
  • in reach
  • hold the stage
  • keester
  • keyster
  • kiester
  • die from (something)