Meaning & use
lured away
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“lured away” is a form of “lure away”.
Meanings
verbtransitive
Persuaded someone to leave a place, job, or relationship by offering something attractive.
Grammar: Takes an object: lure someone away. The object can sit between 'lured' and 'away' or follow 'away'.
Patterns
- lure someone away
- lure someone away from something
- be lured away by something
The company lured her away from a rival firm with a huge salary.
He was lured away from his studies by the promise of easy money.
Several experienced nurses were lured away to private clinics last year.
verbtransitive
Attracted an animal or person away from a place, often using food or a decoy.
Grammar: Often used with 'from': lure the birds away from the crops.
Patterns
- lure something away from something
- lure someone away with something
Farmers used recorded calls to lure the geese away from the fields.
The children were lured away from the playground by the smell of fresh bread.
Word forms
| base form | lure away |
|---|---|
| third person singular | lures away |
| present participle | luring away |
| past tense | lured away |
| past participle | lured away |
Common combinations
- lured away by a better offer
- Many young engineers are lured away by a better offer from a tech giant.
- lured away from home
- The teenager was lured away from home by strangers online.
- lure staff away
- Small businesses struggle when big chains lure staff away.
- lured away to another country
- The best players were lured away to another country's league.
Synonyms and how they differ
- entice away
- Very close in meaning, but 'entice' stresses the tempting offer rather than the act of leaving.
- poach
- Used mainly for stealing employees or players from a competitor; more negative and more specific than 'lure away'.
- attract away
- Neutral and less forceful; it suggests appeal rather than a deliberate trap.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: lured away or allured?
lured away vs allured
Also means attracted, but it is more literary and usually describes charm rather than a calculated offer.
Practice
Choose the sentence that uses 'lured away' correctly.
Choose one answer.
The phrasal verb takes a direct object, so 'lured away two designers' works. Option B leaves 'from' with nothing after it, option C puts 'to' in the wrong place, and option D uses a passive 'by' phrase without a passive verb.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “lured away”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.