A stand-in or fake thing, a word for a foolish, silent, or controlled person, a British baby pacifier, a bridge hand, and verbs for making a mock-up or fooling an opponent in sport.
A person who says or does nothing, or who appears independent while secretly acting for someone else. Older use for a person unable to speak is offensive.
Examples
He sat on the board as a dummy and signed whatever he was given.
Investigators claimed the buyer was only a dummy for the real owner.
The old novel uses dummy as an offensive word for a person unable to speak.
The committee wanted a dummy, not an independent director.
She refused to act as a dummy for someone else's scheme.
Similar words
front
proxy
figurehead
nominee
puppet
silent partner
Baby pacifier
noun
parenting
neutral
A rubber or plastic teat given to a baby to suck for comfort, mainly in British and related varieties of English.
Examples
The baby spat out her dummy and began to cry.
He sterilised the dummy before giving it back to the toddler.
Some parents use a dummy to help a baby settle at night.
The nursery kept a spare dummy in the changing bag.
She dropped the dummy under the cot.
Similar words
pacifier
soother
comforter
teat
binky
Exposed bridge hand
noun
games
technical
In bridge and some card games, the declarer's partner or that partner's exposed hand, played by the declarer.
Examples
After the opening lead, the dummy placed all thirteen cards on the table.
Declarer won the trick in dummy with the ace.
The defenders could see every card in dummy.
She crossed to dummy to lead a heart.
A strong dummy made the contract easy to play.
Similar words
exposed hand
declarer's partner
dummy hand
Make a mock-up
verb
publishing
neutral
To make or place something in a trial layout, especially a publication, design, or interface.
Examples
The art director dummied up the front page before the meeting.
We dummied in the photographs to test the spacing.
The team will dummy a brochure for the client review.
She dummied the chapter openings with blank boxes.
They are dummying the app screens before the final copy arrives.
Similar words
mock up
lay out
prototype
sketch
block out
model
Feint in sport
verb
sport
neutral
To pretend to kick, pass, receive, or move one way in order to mislead an opponent.
Examples
The striker dummied the pass and let the ball run through.
She dummied left before cutting inside the defender.
The fly-half dummied a kick and broke through the line.
He tried to dummy the goalkeeper at the near post.
The defender froze when the winger dummied the cross.
Similar words
feint
fake
deceive
sidestep
sell
wrong-foot
Etymology
Formed from dumb plus -y, first used as a noun in the late sixteenth century and later extended to artificial substitutes, mock-ups, and feints.
FAQ
What does dummy mean?
Dummy can mean a stand-in model or copy, a fake or placeholder item, a foolish person, a British pacifier, a bridge hand, or a sports feint.
Is dummy rude?
Dummy is rude when it means a foolish person, and its older use for someone unable to speak is offensive.
What is a dummy in British English?
In British English, a dummy is often a baby's pacifier, as well as a model or stand-in.
What is a dummy variable?
A dummy variable is a placeholder indicator, usually coded 0 or 1, that represents a category in a model.
What is a dummy in bridge?
In bridge, dummy is the declarer's partner or that partner's exposed hand, which the declarer plays.
Can dummy be an adjective?
Yes. Dummy can describe something fake, trial, placeholder, or nominal, as in dummy camera, dummy run, or dummy company.
What is the past tense of dummy?
The past tense is dummied, and the present participle is dummying.
What does dummy mean in sport?
In sport, to dummy is to feint, pretending to pass, kick, receive, or move one way to mislead an opponent.
Where does dummy come from?
Dummy comes from dumb plus -y, with early uses tied to silence before the word broadened to stand-ins and fake things.
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