What is "decoy"

Decoy \De*coy"\, n.

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

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

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

4. A person employed by officers of justice, or parties exposed to injury, to induce a suspected person to commit an offense under circumstances that will lead to his detection.

Decoy \De*coy"\ (d[-e]*koi"), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Decoyed (-koid"); p. pr. & vb. n. Decoying.] [Pref. de- + coy; orig., to quiet, soothe, caress, entice. See Coy.] 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.

Did to a lonely cot his steps decoy.
--Thomson.

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

Syn: To entice; tempt; allure; lure. See Allure.

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.

1650s, from decoy (n.). Related: Decoyed; decoying.

n. 1 A person or object meant to lure something to danger. 2 A real or fake animal used by hunters to lure game. vb. 1 To act or use a decoy. 2 (context transitive English) To lead into danger by artifice; to lure into a net or snare; to entrap.

1. n. a beguiler who leads someone into danger (usually as part of a plot) [syn: steerer]

2. something used to lure victims into danger [syn: bait, lure]

3. v. lure or entrap with or as if with a decoy

A decoy is usually a person, device, or event meant as a distraction, to conceal what an individual or a group might be looking for. Decoys have been used for centuries most notably in game hunting, but also in wartime and in the committing or resolving of crimes.

Decoy (also titled Decoy Police Woman) is a groundbreaking American crime drama television series created for syndication and initially broadcast from October 14, 1957 to July 7, 1958, with thirty-nine 30-minute black-and-white episodes. It was the first American police series with a female protagonist. Many Decoy episodes are in the public domain.

Decoy is a 1984 album by jazz musician Miles Davis, recorded in 1983. It features keyboardist Robert Irving III and guitarist John Scofield contributing most of the compositions and the other solos. The theme of "That's What Happened" comes from Scofield's improvised solo from the track "Speak" included on the previous album Star People. Saxophonist Branford Marsalis guested with the group on the September 1983 studio sessions.

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.

Decoy is a 1946 American film noir. Directed by Jack Bernhard, the film stars Jean Gillie, Edward Norris, Robert Armstrong, Herbert Rudley, and Sheldon Leonard. The film was produced by Jack Bernhard and Bernard Brandt as a Jack Bernhard Production, with a screenplay by Ned Young, based on an original story by Stanley Rubin

Decoy is a showcase of how film noir can do so much with so little. Short-lived Jean Gillie stars as one of the film genre's toughest femme fatales. Gillie was married to Bernhard when this film was made.

Decoy is an action film starring Peter Weller, and Robert Patrick, directed by Vittorio Rambaldi. The film was released in 1995.

A decoy is a person, device, or event meant to distract.

Decoy or Decoys may also refer to:

In film and television:

• Decoy (1946 film), a 1946 film noir
• Decoy (1995 film), an action film starring Peter Weller
• Decoys (film), a 2004 science fiction horror film
• The Decoy (disambiguation), the name of several films
• Decoy (TV series), a 1950s television series
• "Decoys", an episode of the television show Frasier (season 6)

In music:

• Decoy (album), a 1984 album by Miles Davis
• Decoy (EP), a 1995 EP by Good Riddance
• "Decoy", a song by Paramore

Ships:

• HMS Decoy, several British Royal Navy vessels
• USS Decoy (1822), a US Navy schooner
• PS Decoy, a modern sea-going paddle steamer

Other uses:

• Decoy (chess), a tactic in chess
• Decoy, Kentucky, a community in the United States

Decoy is an EP by the Santa Cruz, California-based hardcore punk band Good Riddance. It was released August 26, 1995 through Fat Wreck Chords, six months after their debut album For God and Country, which included the EP's title track, "Decoy". The first two tracks on the EP, "United Cigar" and "12 Year Circus", are taken from the album, while "Free" was previously unreleased. Singer Russ Rankin later remarked that he had written "Free" "as a vehicle with which to lyrically attack two of my favorite targets: pro-lifers and cops. I remember enjoying this song when we played it at shows and it was one of our most requested live songs for a little while after For God and Country came out and a whole slew of new fans bought the Decoy 7-inch after picking up the full length." Decoy was Good Riddance's final release with drummer Rich McDermott, who left the band and was replaced by Sean Sellers.