Skip to content
Vinony

ploy

noun

  1. deceptive strategy
L18157 on Wikidata ↗

Wiktionary

Pronunciation: /plɔɪ/

noun

Etymology: Possibly from a shortened form of employ or deploy. Or from earlier ploye, from Middle English, borrowed from Middle French ployer (compare modern plier), from Latin plicāre.

  1. A tactic, strategy, or scheme.

    “Near-synonyms: ruse, stratagem, device”

    “The free T-shirt is really a ploy to get you inside to see their sales pitch.”

  2. Sport; frolic.
  3. Employment.

verb

Etymology: Probably abbreviated from deploy.

  1. To form a column from a line of troops on some designated subdivision.

    “Troops drawn up so as to show an extended front, with slight depth, are said to be deployed; when the depth is considerable and the front comparatively small, they are said to be in ployed formation.”