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Synonyms

ploy

American  
[ploi] / plɔɪ /

noun

  1. a maneuver or stratagem, as in conversation, to gain the advantage.

    Synonyms:
    gambit, wile, subterfuge, ruse, tactic

verb (used with object)

  1. Military Archaic. to move (troops) from a line into a column.

verb (used without object)

  1. Military Archaic. to move from a line into a column.

ploy British  
/ plɔɪ /

noun

  1. a manoeuvre or tactic in a game, conversation, etc; stratagem; gambit

  2. any business, job, hobby, etc, with which one is occupied

    angling is his latest ploy

  3. a frolic, escapade, or practical joke

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • counterploy noun

Etymology

Origin of ploy

1475–85; earlier ploye to bend < Middle French ployer ( French plier ) < Latin plicāre to fold, ply 2; deploy

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.