Decoy /(dē̇*koi")/

imp. & p. p. Decoyed; p. pr. & vb. n. Decoying

1. 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.

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

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.