a horse, or a figure of a horse, behind which a hunter hides in stalking game.
anything put forward to mask plans or efforts; pretext.
a political candidate used to conceal the candidacy of a more important figure or to draw votes from and cause the defeat of a rival.
a horse or an imitation one used by a hunter to hide behind while stalking his quarry
something serving as a means of concealing plans; pretext
a candidate put forward by one group to divide the opposition or mask the candidacy of another person for whom the stalking-horse would then withdraw
First recorded in 1510–20
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Now the Antichrist may be a stalking horse for a different question: what it means, in some genetically stable sense, to be human.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 17, 2025
A Labour source said: "I've heard of a stalking horse, but this guy is going to get hoarse from his endless stalking."
From BBC • Sep. 24, 2025
Journalism is not a speed horse but more of a stalking horse that doesn’t go to the lead, leaving a lot of run left when he hits the homestretch.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 26, 2025
"This is not a stalking horse for rate regulation. Nope. No how, no way," the chair said in October.
From Salon • Apr. 4, 2024
In short, the Quaker petition for an end of the slave trade was really a stalking horse for a more radical and thoroughgoing scheme to end the institution of slavery itself.
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
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.
