decoy

From Dutch de +‎ kooi, literally "the cage". Possibly related to verb coy (which itself may have been influenced by decoy).

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈdiːkɔɪ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːkɔɪ

decoy (plural decoys)

1. A person or object meant to lure somebody into danger.
2. A real or fake animal used by hunters to lure game.
3. 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.

4. An assembly of hooped or netted corridors into which wild ducks may be enticed (originally by tame ducks) and trapped.

decoy (third-person singular simple present decoys, present participle decoying, simple past and past participle decoyed)

1. (transitive) To lead into danger by artifice; to lure into a net or snare; to entrap.

   to decoy troops into an ambush; to decoy ducks into a net

   • 1770, Goldsmith, The Deserted Village, a Poem, London: W Griffin, , →OCLC:

     E'en while fashion's brightest arts decoy, / The heart, distrusting, asks if this be joy.

2. (intransitive) To act as, or use, a decoy. (Can we add an example for this sense?)

• red herring

• coyed