Definition of decoy

• v. t. - 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.
• n. - Anything intended to lead into a snare; a lure that deceives and misleads into danger, or into the power of an enemy; a bait.
• n. - A fowl, or the likeness of one, used by sportsmen to entice other fowl into a net or within shot.
• n. - A place into which wild fowl, esp. ducks, are enticed in order to take or shoot them.
• n. - 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.