decoy

decoy

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈdiːkɔɪ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

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.

Derived terms

• decoy-duck
• decoy effect
• duck decoy

 

Translations

person or object meant to lure something to danger

Bulgarian: прима́мка (bg) (primámka) Burmese: ဒလန် (my) (da.lan) Catalan: esquer (ca) m, cimbell m Chinese: Mandarin: 引诱物 (yǐnyòuwù) (object), 引誘人／引诱人 (yǐnyòurén) (person), 誘餌／诱饵 (zh) (yòu'ěr) Dutch: lokvogel (nl) m, afleiding (nl) f Finnish: houkutin (fi), houkutuslintu French: leurre (fr) m, appât (fr) m Galician: engado, reclamo (gl), cebo (gl) German: Lockvogel (de) m, Köder (de) m Greek: δόλωμα (el) n (dóloma), κράχτης (el) m (kráchtis) Hungarian: csapda (hu) Italian: esca (it) f, richiamo (it) m Japanese: 囮 (ja) (おとり, otori), 好餌 (ja) (こうじ, kōji) Latin: illex m or f Maori: hunuhunu, kaipātari, hūhunu Polish: przynęta (pl) f Portuguese: chamariz (pt) m Romanian: momeală (ro) f Russian: прима́нка (ru) f (primánka), подсадна́я у́тка (ru) f (podsadnája útka), нажи́вка (ru) f (nažívka) (bait) Serbo-Croatian: мамац m (mamac) Spanish: señuelo, carnada (colloquial) Swedish: lockbete (sv) n Tagalog: kati (tl), pangati

animal used by hunters to lure game

Bulgarian: изку́ствена пти́ца f (izkústvena ptíca) Chinese: Mandarin: 囮子 (zh) (ézi) Czech: návnada f Dutch: afleiding (nl) f Finnish: houkutuslintu French: leurre (fr) m German: Lockvogel (de) m Greek: δόλωμα (el) n (dóloma) Ancient: παλευτής m (paleutḗs) Hungarian: csalétek (hu), csali (hu), csalimadár (hu), csalikacsa, (birdlime to catch birds) lép (hu) Icelandic: lokkunarfugl m Italian: zimbello (it) m Maori: tīmori Portuguese: chamariz (pt) m Russian: мано́к (ru) m (manók), подсадна́я у́тка (ru) f (podsadnája útka) Serbo-Croatian: mamac (sh) m Spanish: señuelo, carnada (colloquial), cimbel m Swedish: lockfågel c, vette (sv) c Volapük: (bird) bätaböd, (duck) bätadök

deceptive military device

French: leurre (fr) m Hungarian: csali (hu), csalimadár (hu)

Verb

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, [Oliver] Goldsmith, The Deserted Village, a Poem, London: […] W. Griffin, […], OCLC 1227622017:

     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?)

Derived terms

• deke

Translations

to act as, or use, a decoy

Bulgarian: примамвам (bg) (primamvam) Dutch: lokken (nl) French: appâter (fr), leurrer (fr), piéger (fr) German: ködern (de), locken (de) Greek: δελεάζω (el) (deleázo) Ancient: παλεύω (paleúō) Hungarian: (to use one) tőrbe csal, csapdába csal, (to act as one) csalogat (hu) Maori: onga, tīmori Russian: прима́нивать (ru) (primánivatʹ), примани́ть (ru) (primanítʹ) Ukrainian: прима́нювати impf (prymánjuvaty), примани́ти pf (prymanýty)

Anagrams

• coyed