decoy
pronunciation
How to pronounce decoy in British English:
UK [ˈdi:kɔɪ]
How to pronounce decoy in American English:
US [ˈdiˌkɔɪ, dɪˈkɔɪ]
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- Noun:
- a beguiler who leads someone into danger (usually as part of a plot)
- something used to lure victims into danger
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- Verb:
- lure or entrap with or as if with a decoy
Word Origin
- decoy
- decoy: [16] Dutch kooi means ‘cage’ (it comes from Latin cavea ‘cage’, source of English cage). The term came to be applied specifically to a pond which had been surrounded with nets into which wildfowl were lured for capture. English took it over, but brought with it the Dutch definite article de, so that Dutch de kooi ‘the decoy’ became English decoy.=> cage
- decoy (n.)
- 1610s, perhaps from Dutch kooi "cage," used of a pond surrounded by nets, into which wildfowl were lured for capture, from West Germanic *kaiwa, from Latin cavea "cage." The first element is possibly the Dutch definite article de, mistaken in English as part of the word. But decoy, of unknown origin, was the name of a card game popular c. 1550-1650, and this may have influenced the form of the word.
- decoy (v.)
- 1650s, from decoy (n.). Related: Decoyed; decoying.
Example
- 1. Chinese ballistic missiles are more sophisticated that north korean launches and have decoy technology that could confuse u.s. missile defenses .
- 2. There was no word on who was flying the identical decoy helicopters that travel near marine one in case anyone tries to shoot down the president .
- 3. To see if this compound played a role in immunity as well , the team treated healthy mice with a lymphotoxin-blocking " decoy " and infected them with vsv .
- 4. Sarkozy entered the bordeaux courthouse thursday without notice after a decoy vehicle lured away the cameras hoping to catch him on the way in , according to the sipa news agency .
- 5. Viruses reproduce using an enzyme known as rna polymerase which copies the virus genome . The uk scientists turned that system against the virus by modifying the dna of the chickens so that in every cell they produced a small amount of ' decoy ' rna .