Emily Dickinson Lexicon

DE-COY', v.t. [D. kooi, a cabin, berth, bed, fold, cage, decoy; kooijen, to lie, to bed.]

To lead or lure by artifice into a snare, with a view to catch; to draw into any situation to be taken by a foe; to entrap by any means which deceive. The fowler decoys ducks into a net. Troops may be decoyed into an ambush. One ship decoys another within reach of her shot.