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general::
Phrase(s): put someone off the track [and] put someone off the trail
to cause someone to lose a trail that is being followed. (See also put someone off the scent; throw someone off the track.) • A distraction put me off the track and I almost got lost in the jungle. • I was following an escaped convict and something put me off the trail.
McGrawhill's American Idioms And Phrasal Verbs