decoy

plural decoys

1. A person or object meant to lure somebody into danger.
2. A real or fake animal used by hunters to lure game.
3. Deceptive military device used to draw enemy attention or fire away from a more important target.

   2002, Robotech: Battlecry – Guide and Walkthrough Just every 5 seconds or so shoot out a decoy near the Cats Eye and the enemies will aim for that instead of the Cats Eye.

4. An assembly of hooped or netted corridors into which wild ducks may be enticed (originally by tame ducks) and trapped.

present singular third person decoys · participle present decoying · participle past decoyed · past decoyed

1. transitiveTo lead into danger by artifice; to lure into a net or snare; to entrap.

   to decoy troops into an ambush; to decoy ducks into a net

   1 more example

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

   1770, [Oliver] Goldsmith, The Deserted Village, a Poem, London: […] W[illiam] Griffin, […], →OCLC

2. intransitiveTo act as, or use, a decoy.

   As they were being decoyed, the rescue team carried the hostage and quietly slipped away.