lure

[loor]

noun

1. anything that attracts, entices, or allures.

   Synonyms: temptation

2. the power of attracting or enticing.

3. a decoy; live or especially artificial bait used in fishing or trapping.

4. Falconry.,  a feathered decoy for attracting a hawk, swung at the end of a long line and sometimes baited with raw meat.

5. a flap or tassel dangling from the dorsal fin of pediculate fishes, as the angler, that attracts prey to the mouth region.

verb (used with object)

lured, luring 

1. to attract, entice, or tempt; allure.

   Synonyms: seduce
   Antonyms: repel

2. to draw or recall (especially a falcon), as by a lure or decoy.

lure

/ lʊə /

verb

1. to tempt or attract by the promise of some type of reward

2. falconry to entice (a hawk or falcon) from the air to the falconer by a lure

noun

1. a person or thing that lures

2. angling any of various types of brightly-coloured artificial spinning baits, usually consisting of a plastic or metal body mounted with hooks and trimmed with feathers, etc See jig plug spoon

3. falconry a feathered decoy to which small pieces of meat can be attached and which is equipped with a long thong

Other Word Forms

• lurement noun
• lurer noun
• luringly adverb
• unlured adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of lure¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Anglo-French, Old French luere ( French leurre ), from Frankish lothr- (unrecorded); cognate with Middle High German luoder, German Luder “bait”

Word History and Origins

Origin of lure¹

C14: from Old French loirre falconer's lure, from Germanic; related to Old English lathian to invite

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. in lure, noting a pair of wings joined with the tips downward.

Example Sentences

MI5 says it is tackling "a steady stream of attempts to lure UK academic experts" in order to get hold of technology they are working on, often starting with approaches over networking sites like LinkedIn.

Read more on BBC

“Using Plaintiff’s own trademark, Defendant is luring users away from Plaintiff’s authentic, custom celebrity CAMEO®-branded service to Defendant’s AI-driven ‘Cameo’ service for creating fake yet highly realistic videos featuring celebrity likenesses.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

New Jersey recently bolstered its film and TV tax credit program to lure more productions.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Wales are third in their qualifying group for the 2026 World Cup and guaranteed at least a play-off berth, so luring him away from the national side could prove difficult.

Read more on BBC

California recently expanded its production tax credit program and has lured some TV shows and movies to the industry’s home state.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal