Meaning & use
decoy location
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Meanings
nouncountable
A place that is not the real target, used to trick someone into going there or looking there.
Grammar: Countable: you can say 'a decoy location' or 'decoy locations'.
Patterns
- set up a decoy location
- use something as a decoy location
The soldiers set up a decoy location to draw the enemy away from the real base.
The app can show a decoy location to protect your privacy.
Police created a decoy location online to catch the thief.
nouncountablecomputingtechnical
In computing, a false GPS position or network address sent out to confuse tracking systems.
Grammar: Often used in technical discussions about location spoofing.
Patterns
- spoof a decoy location
- send a decoy location
Hackers used a decoy location to hide the true origin of the attack.
The security tool generates a decoy location for every request.
Word forms
| plural | decoy locations |
|---|
Common combinations
- set up a decoy location
- They set up a decoy location near the border.
- use something as a decoy location
- The empty building was used as a decoy location.
- a decoy location for
- This is a decoy location for the real server.
Synonyms and how they differ
- false location
- More general; can be accidental, while 'decoy location' is deliberately deceptive.
- fake location
- Informal and common in everyday speech; 'decoy location' sounds more tactical or technical.
Opposites
Word family
- decoy noun
- A person or thing used to trick someone.
Practice
The army built a _______ to make the enemy think the weapons were stored there.
Choose one answer.
'Decoy location' is the correct compound noun meaning a false place used as a trick. 'Decoy locate' is not a noun phrase; 'decoction' is a completely different word (a type of extraction), and 'decoying location' would mean a place that is currently tricking someone, which does not fit the context of a deliberately built false site.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “decoy location”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.