Decoy
noun, verb
noun, verb ·2 syllables ·Moderate ·High school level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A person or object meant to lure somebody into danger.
- 2 something used to lure fish or other animals into danger so they can be trapped or killed wordnet
- 3 A real or fake animal used by hunters to lure game.
- 4 a beguiler who leads someone into danger (usually as part of a plot) wordnet
- 5 Deceptive military device used to draw enemy attention or fire away from a more important target.
"2002, Robotech: Battlecry – Guide and Walkthrough Just every 5 seconds or so shoot out a decoy near the Cats Eye and the enemies will aim for that instead of the Cats Eye."
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- 6 An assembly of hooped or netted corridors into which wild ducks may be enticed (originally by tame ducks) and trapped.
Verb
- 1 To lead into danger by artifice; to lure into a net or snare; to entrap. transitive
"to decoy troops into an ambush; to decoy ducks into a net"
- 2 lure or entrap with or as if with a decoy wordnet
- 3 To act as, or use, a decoy. intransitive
"As they were being decoyed, the rescue team carried the hostage and quietly slipped away."
Example
More examples"Trappers used decoy birds and a sticky substance."
Etymology
From Dutch de + kooi, literally "the cage". Possibly related to verb coy (which itself may have been influenced by decoy).
Related phrases
More for "decoy"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.