lead someone up the garden path
• give someone misleading clues or signals.
• "in a crime novel, the reader has to be led up the garden path"
Similar:
deceive,
mislead,
lead on,
delude,
hoodwink,
dupe,
trick,
ensnare,
entrap,
tempt,
entice,
allure,
lure,
beguile,
tantalize,
tease,
frustrate,
flirt with,
inveigle,
seduce,
take in,
fool,
gull,
string along,
take for a ride,
put one over on,
