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Definition
someone or something used for trickery — especially to lure- The ducks were attracted by our decoys.
- Wooden tanks were used as decoys.
- The plane can release chaff or flares as a decoy.
- The perfect decoy—that was Dana.Carl Hiassen -- Hoot
- A philanthropist and friend of labor bishop—a Civic Federation decoy duck for the chloroforming of the wage-working-man!Upton Sinclair -- The Jungle
- It seems to be a provision of Nature; a decoy to secure mothers for the race.Kate Chopin -- The Awakening
- The old gentleman could not be decoyed outside of his grounds at night.Arthur Conan Doyle -- The Hound of the Baskervilles
- In actuality, the armored car is a decoy—for security measures, Oswald will be led to a police car instead.Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard -- Killing Kennedy
- While Redd's forces were occupied with the decoys, Alyss and her companions made it to the outskirts of the Chessboard Desert.Frank Beddor -- The Looking Glass Wars
- After a few miles Randy told Malachai to look for signs of the place where Dan Gunn had been decoyed and beaten.Pat Frank -- Alas, Babylon
- So he palmed you off on the Lightwoods and hoped you might be of some use to him later, as a decoy.Cassandra Clare -- City of Glass
- —and the old one de Tournay—were they the two fugitives who, unconsciously, were used as a decoy, to entrap their fearless and noble rescuer.Baroness Orczy -- The Scarlet Pimpernel
- Just like duck decoys in front of a hunter's blind.Neal Stephenson -- Snow Crash
- Just Black was laid out as the decoy, and I was going to be the fool.Maya Angelou -- I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
- A young female gypsy, more remarkable for her wit than her beauty, had decoyed the honest fellow aside, pretending to tell his fortune.Henry Fielding -- Tom Jones
- For my decoy project, I wanted to job-shadow a social worker, which the Senior Boards committee approved.Gaby Rodriguez -- The Pregnancy Project
- He said he had travelled through the Northern States and Canada; and though the abolitionists had tried to decoy him away, they had never succeeded.Harriet Jacobs -- Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
- I had assumed that it was empty, that it went up in the air as a decoy.Pittacus Lore -- I Am Number Four
- "That man up there is a decoy," replied Jason, his soft voice suspended in a cold monotone.Robert Ludlum -- The Bourne Ultimatum
- He's the decoy and knows nothing.Robert Ludlum -- The Bourne Supremacy