What's the difference between decoy and ploy?

Decoy


Definition:

  • (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.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Played out against the backdrop of the 1979 hostage crisis, Argo spins the account of a joint Hollywood-CIA mission to spring six imperiled Americans from revolutionary Iran, using a fake movie production as a decoy.
  • (2) Sialoresponsin is a receptor "decoy" that inhibits neuraminidase.
  • (3) With Mitrovic’s decoy run having deceived Neil’s defence the Spanish striker advanced only to find his initial shot blocked by Olsson.
  • (4) The most effective decoys were M. cornuarietis and H. caribaeum, both of which caused experimental infection levels of 90% to decrease to 25% when five decoy snails were present for each target snail.
  • (5) Destroyer turned decoy for their third as Lukaku missed Mirallas's corner, the ball was allowed to bounce in the six-yard box and Ross Barkley emerged unnoticed to head in what proved the winner.
  • (6) 6.41pm GMT 49ers 6-0 Panthers, 2:19, 1st quarter Newton throws to Smith for 28 yards to get to the SF 38, I guess he's not just a decoy after all.
  • (7) The sum of the results suggest that tumor growth may succeed in vivo by the wholesale production of "decoy" antigens.
  • (8) Overexpression of TAR-containing sequences (TAR decoys) was used to render cells resistant to HIV replication.
  • (9) Overexpression of sequences corresponding to the major Rev-binding site in the Rev response element of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) (RRE decoys) was used to render cells resistant to HIV-1 replication.
  • (10) However, the phenotype of several mutations suggests that TAR decoy RNA does not inhibit HIV-1 gene expression by simply sequestering Tat but rather does so by sequestering a transactivation protein complex, implying that transactivation requires the cooperative binding of both Tat and a loop-binding cellular factor(s) to TAR.
  • (11) The concentration of the enzymes creatine kinase (CK) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST), that are released from damaged muscle, was measured in the blood of wild adult male mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) captured for banding in decoy and bait traps and by rocket net.
  • (12) A long time seems to go by, marked only by the slap of Owen throwing and rethrowing the decoy.
  • (13) As such, the truncated soluble form of this molecule (sT4) has been proposed as a therapeutic drug for the treatment of AIDS whereby it would act as decoy for viral entry into cells or facilitate elimination of soluble viral envelope glycoprotein.
  • (14) Some of the ducklings had not been given any previous visual experience other than that gained in a 20-minute introduction to the empty apparatus; others had previously been given the opportunity to follow one particular decoy for 20 minutes.
  • (15) Bellamy's goal was every bit as special, the forward accepting the invitation to cut inside, after Adam Matthews's overlapping run served as a decoy, before arrowing a superb 20-yard drive into the far corner.
  • (16) The decoys could be grouped into three categories: those in the first category were treated as equivalent, that is, so long as the duckling had followed one of these models it would approach either.
  • (17) Testing the hypothesis may lead to the identification of plasmodial antigens that induce protective responses in the human host and distinguish them from non-protective, immunosuppressive or decoy antigens that promote parasite survival.
  • (18) He says that he is innocent, a decoy thrown out to protect the real culprits.
  • (19) Thus, use of RRE-based decoy RNA to inhibit HIV-1 replication may represent a safer alternative to the use of TAR decoy RNA.
  • (20) However, it then transpired that the security operation was a decoy to divert the loyalists away from the back of the station.

Ploy


Definition:

  • (n.) Sport; frolic.
  • (v. i.) To form a column from a line of troops on some designated subdivision; -- the opposite of deploy.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) 10.36am BST Mind Games Well come on then, let's have your thoughts on the best psychological ploys in football history.
  • (2) Chelsea , however, will not be too concerned if this match is added to the long list of games that is used to knock José Mourinho's ploys of conservatism and, ultimately, it is proven to be a valuable result.
  • (3) He wrote: “The NHS in Wales will not be the victim of any Conservative party ploy to drag its reputation through the mud for entirely partisan political purposes.
  • (4) The unsuspecting public may not realise that the call to avoid palm oil is nothing more than a trade ploy since in recent years palm oil has been very competitive and has gained a major share of the world's edible oils and fats market.
  • (5) Will he really go in the slower group of elite runners and not the pace set by Haile Gebrselassie, allowing his rivals a 30-second advantage at halfway, or is it a clever psychological ploy?
  • (6) But in an interview with Buzzfeed , he claimed the choice of lead, played by Jeremy Irvine, was a deliberate ploy to appeal to a heterosexual crowd.
  • (7) Yet Wenger talked about it jarring with his principles to base his entire strategy around ploys of conservatism.
  • (8) This is in part due to planned obsolescence – a devious ploy by manufacturers bolstered by marketing strategies to make us fall out of love with a product hastily.
  • (9) The link between Lynton Crosby and the tax haven could make uncomfortable reading for the prime minister, who has described legal ploys to avoid tax as morally wrong.
  • (10) For the most part, however, the home side were unashamed about their ploys of conservatism.
  • (11) That was Nigeria’s outlet ball all game, and was clearly a deliberate ploy on the part of Keshi.
  • (12) If the ploy had worked, Texas conservatives might have seen Dewhurst as the hero who saved the anti-abortion bill.
  • (13) This ploy has proven unsuccessful in all cases where scientific evidence was adequately presented by the state and in all important court cases where the issue was critically examined.
  • (14) The essence of his argument is that the programme is a ploy to displace poor people from their homes to divert resources to consultants and developers.
  • (15) What giant new claim on our fast-depleting personal wealth is the chancellor going to spring on us that requires such an elaborate ploy?
  • (16) For the owners, this bafflement is a deliberate ploy to enhance the wow factor of reaching the lively reception and bar.
  • (17) Earlier this month a federal district judge, Nelva Gonzales Ramos, struck down the law , slamming it as a cynical ploy on the part of Republicans to fend off the growing strength of the minority electorate in Texas by “suppressing the overwhelmingly Democratic votes of African Americans and Latinos”.
  • (18) This campaign is nothing but a self-interested and cynical ploy by the newspaper, a childish way of hitting back at the growing chorus of anti-Page 3 voices .
  • (19) Although light-hearted in character, Klinsmann’s ploy seems to have a serious purpose behind it as American interest in the World Cup reaches unprecedented levels.
  • (20) Boxer described the Republicans’ letter as “bizarre, inappropriate” and a “desperate ploy to scuttle a comprehensive agreement” that she said is “in the best interests of the United States, Israel and the world”.