A squinting modifier, also known as an ambiguous modifier, is a modifier that could possibly modify two different parts of the sentence.
The following sentence has a squinting modifier:
“Paolo works in a restaurant serving shrimp.”
In this sentence, it is unclear if Paolo’s specific job is serving shrimp in a restaurant or if the restaurant is dedicated specifically to shrimp.
This can be clarified as either of the following two sentences:
“Paolo works serving shrimp in a restaurant.” [indicating that Paolo serves shrimp]
“Paolo works in a restaurant that serves shrimp.” [indicating that the restaurant serves shrimp]