ploy
6 dictionary results for: ploy
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
ploy 
[ploi] Pronunciation Key
[ploi] Pronunciation Key –noun
–verb (used with object)
–verb (used without object)
| 1. | a maneuver or stratagem, as in conversation, to gain the advantage. |
| 2. | Military Archaic. to move (troops) from a line into a column. Compare deploy. |
| 3. | Military Archaic. to move from a line into a column. |
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
| ploy
(ploi) Pronunciation Key
n. An action calculated to frustrate an opponent or gain an advantage indirectly or deviously; a maneuver: "A typical ploy is to feign illness, procure medicine, then sell it on the black market" (Jill Smolowe). [Perhaps from employ, employment (obsolete).] |
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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
ploy
ploy
1722, "anything with which one amuses oneself," Scottish and northern England dialect, possibly a shortened form of employ or deploy. Popularized in the sense "move or gambit made to gain advantage" by British humorist Stephen Potter (1900-1969).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
| ploy | |
noun | |
| 1. | an opening remark intended to secure an advantage for the speaker [syn: gambit] |
| 2. | a maneuver in a game or conversation |
WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
Ploy
Ploy\, n. Sport; frolic. [Prov. Eng. & Scot.]
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
Ploy
Ploy\, v. i. [Prob. abbrev. fr. deploy.] (Mil.) To form a column from a line of troops on some designated subdivision; -- the opposite of deploy. --Wilhelm.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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