To lead into danger by artifice; to lure into a net or snare; to entrap; to insnare; to allure; to entice; as, to decoy troops into an ambush; to decoy ducks into a net.

Anything intended to lead into a snare; a lure that deceives and misleads into danger, or into the power of an enemy; a bait.

A fowl, or the likeness of one, used by sportsmen to entice other fowl into a net or within shot.

A place into which wild fowl, esp. ducks, are enticed in order to take or shoot them.

A fictitious name inserted into a mailing list to monitor list usage.

A fictitious name with a real address placed in a mailing list for monitoring purposes (also Dummy).

A specific name or party inserted into a mailing list to uncover unauthorized use of that list. Also see Seeds.

A name in a mail, telephone or e-mail list placed solely for the purpose of tracking the use of the list to ensure that the list purchaser or renter does not break the sales or rental contract. The decoy person, household or organization either works for the list owner/broker or otherwise agrees to help by reporting any misuse. A similar term, "dummy", is a fictitious name included for this purpose. The process of including decoys or dummies is called "seeding" or "salting". Contributed by: MarcommWise Staff

Something to simulate an aircraft to confuse the enemy.

To force an enemy piece either away from or to a particular square or line, often by means of a SACRIFICE. (Some writers use DECOY only for forcing TO a square or line and DEFLECTION for forcing AWAY FROM a square or line.)

In chess, decoying is the tactic of ensnaring a piece, usually the king or queen, by forcing it to move to a poisoned square with a sacrifice on that square.