lure

American  

[loor] / lʊər /

noun

• lures
  plural

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.

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verb (used with object)

• lures,
  present (3rd person singular)
• lured,
  past participle,  past
• luring
  present participle

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.

idioms

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

lure British  

/ 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

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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

Derived Forms

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

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• lures
  plural

Participles

• luring
  present
• lured
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• lure
  simple
• lures
  simple
• have lured
  perfect
• has lured
  perfect
• am luring
  progressive
• are luring
  progressive
• is luring
  progressive
• have been luring
  perfect progressive
• has been luring
  perfect progressive

Past

• lured
  simple
• had lured
  perfect
• was luring
  progressive
• were luring
  progressive
• had been luring
  perfect progressive

Future

• will lure
  simple
• will have lured
  perfect
• will be luring
  progressive
• will have been luring
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of lure

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”

Explanation

To lure is to entice or bait someone. A lure is used to bait or entice fish to attach themselves to your hook. "He had a new shiny lure, which was enough to lure me into going on the fishing trip." The verb lure is related to words that mean “bait,” “deceit,” and “invite.” Often, when lure is used, there is a nefarious implication, as in: “He was able to lure her into the alley, but her friends soon came looking for her.” The noun lure is the thing that draws in the person or animal, which can be either a physical object or a concept. "The lure of his great wealth kept her in the relationship despite his infidelity."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

lure lures lured luring

The $1,000 in free money is a big lure for families of newborns.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 1, 2026

FamilyMart started to relax those rules this year in an attempt to lure workers, including young people who want to maintain their own style.

From Barron's ● Sep. 28, 2026

Museums are turning to Lee Krasner, Jackson Pollock, Roy Lichtenstein and the Surrealists to lure crowds out of the autumnal chill.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026

Researchers tested whether pinene could lure termites away from the places where they were clustered and toward localized insecticide deposits.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 19, 2026

Not even strawberry ice cream could lure her away from the radio when Red Barber was broadcasting the latest adventure of de Bums.

From "In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson" by Bette Bao Lord

According to cyber-security company Malwarebytes, the fake recruiters use lures such as: "Complete your interview by installing the Indeed app" or "salary agreement available after app installation".

From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026

"We suspect during the final construction stage the spider adds a pheromone that specifically lures worker ants and induces an aggressive attack, triggering the snare," said Professor Narendra.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 26, 2026

Known as the “Danish capital of America,” the city lures in more than one million tourists a year, generating around $9 million annual in hotel and sales tax revenue, according to the New York Post.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 23, 2026

Is the primary thought of AI’s creators to help humanity, or is that daily crowded out by other lures and considerations—power, money, wanting to win?

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 12, 2026

The little plastic tackle case had a small variety of silver spoons and some feathered lures, and he tried them all.

From "The Voyage Of The Frog" by Gary Paulsen

In an interview with Radio 4's Today programme, Gershkovich spoke about the moment he realised he had been "lured into a trap" when masked men surrounded him at a restaurant in 2023, and detained him.

From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2026

Supporters point to the increasing number of productions that have left the U.S., lured by more extensive incentives offered by other countries, including the United Kingdom, Ireland and Canada.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2026

Financial adviser Michael Haubrich was racing against time to figure out how to help a pair of his firm’s clients who he thought were being lured by a scam.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 24, 2026

Icebreakers, in his vision, would clear an Arctic path for Canadian fertilizer to sail east, over the Northwest Passage that lured centuries of explorers into the Polar sea.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 13, 2026

By the door he first noticed what had really lured him there: it was the smell of something to eat.

From "The Metamorphosis" by Franz Kafka

With that said, a number of clubs are already working on seeing if they can capitalise on the current uncertainty by luring City's best academy talent.

From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2026

LIV spent £3.7bn, luring players like DeChambeau with lucrative contracts and significant prize money.

From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2026

The state’s light regulation and low taxes are luring dozens of big companies.

From Barron's ● Aug. 8, 2026

One of his biggest accomplishments was luring Adolph out of retirement.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026

I can’t help but feel like the spider is luring the fly into a trap.

From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold