Nearby Words
noun
1.
a person who entices or lures another person or thing, as into danger, a trap, or the like.
2.
anything used as a lure.
3.
a trained bird or other animal used to entice game into a trap or within gunshot.
4.
an artificial bird, as a painted wooden duck, used for the same purpose.
5.
EXPANDa pond into which wild fowl are lured for capture.
verb (used with object)
7.
to lure by or as if by a decoy: They decoyed the ducks to an area right in front of the blind.
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Decoy
is one of our favorite verbs.
So is hornswoggle. Does it mean:
| to swindle, cheat, hoodwink, or hoax. |
| to steal or take dishonestly (money, esp. public funds, or property entrusted to one's care); embezzle. |
verb (used without object)
8.
to become decoyed: Ducks decoy more easily than most other waterfowl.
Origin:
1610–20; variant of coy (now dial.) < Dutch (de) kooi (the) cage, Middle Dutch cōie < Latin cavea cage
1610–20; variant of coy (now dial.) < Dutch (de) kooi (the) cage, Middle Dutch cōie < Latin cavea cage
Related forms
de·coy·er, noun
Synonyms
2. enticement, bait, inducement, allurement.
2. enticement, bait, inducement, allurement.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source
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Link To decoy
Example Sentences
- Shot dead while a pizza delivery man served as a decoy.
- We have wasted a lot of fuel, ship, aircraft and man time in a futile decoy operation which attracted no shooters.
- Brightmail's operators monitor decoy e-mail accounts, looking for new examples of spam or viruses that can defeat filters.
Collins
World English Dictionary
| decoy | |
| —n | |
| 1. | a person or thing used to beguile or lead someone into danger; lure |
| 2. | military something designed to deceive an enemy or divert his attention |
| 3. | a bird or animal, or an image of one, used to lure game into a trap or within shooting range |
| 4. | an enclosed space or large trap, often with a wide funnelled entrance, into which game can be lured for capture |
| 5. | (Canadian) another word for deke |
| —vb | |
| 6. | to lure or be lured by or as if by means of a decoy |
| 7. | (Canadian) (tr) another word for deke |
| [C17: probably from Dutch de kooi, literally: the cage, from Latin cavea | |
| de'coyer | |
| —n | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
decoy
1618, most likely from Du. kooi "cage," used of a pond surrounded by nets, into which wildfowl were lured for capture, from W.Gmc. *kaiwa, from L. cavea, "cage." The first element is possibly the Du. definite article de, mistaken in Eng. as part of the word. But decoy, of unknown origin, was the name
EXPANDof a card game popular c.1550-1650, and this may have influenced the form of the word.
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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