See Also: dummy run(dictionary)
dummy(2)(dictionary)
dummy(1)(dictionary)
Dummy(health)
dummy(medicine)
Dummy Incorporators(money)
dummy consultand(medicine)
Dummy Up. - Poker(gambling)
dummy 1, noun(dictionary)
dummy 2, adjective(dictionary)

dummy(1) (iou)



dummy noun & adjective. Also dumby. L16.
[from DUMB adjective + -Y6.]
A. noun.
A person who cannot speak. colloq. L16.
b. (A beggar who pretends to be) a deaf-mute. L19.
a. Whist. A hand dealt to an imaginary fourth player which is turned up and played by one of the other players as partner; (a game played with) this imaginary player. M18.
b. Bridge. The partner of the declarer, whose cards are exposed after the first lead; this player's hand. L19.
A stupid person, a blockhead. L18.
New Yorker You've just been had, dummy.
A person taking no real part or present only for appearances, a figurehead; a person who is merely a tool of another; Austral. History one who buys land on behalf of another (not entitled to buy it). M19.
D. Bagley Our..corporation might have caught a tiger by the tailFavel is no one's dummy.
An object serving to replace the genuine or usual one; a substitute, an imitation; a counterfeit. M19.
R. V. Jones The warhead was a dummy made of concrete. P. Parish Half the patients are given the true drug, half are given the dummy.
b. spec. A model of a human body to hang or display clothes on; a (usu. adjustable) model of a human torso to fit clothes on. Also dress-maker's dummy, tailor's dummy. M19.
c. A set of sheets of paper made up to resemble a book etc.; a mock-up of a newspaper etc. M19.
d. A model of a human body used as a target in shooting or bayonet practice or in safety tests for vehicles etc. L19.
e. A teat of rubber, plastic, etc., given to a baby to suck as a comforter. E20.
f. In football and other games, a feigned pass or kick intended to deceive an opponent. E20.
g. A model of a person or animal made by a ventriloquist to appear to talk etc. Also ventriloquist's dummy. M20.
h. Computing. An instruction or sequence of data that merely occupies space. M20.
A barge, vehicle, etc., with no means of propulsion. M19.
Phrases: double dummy: see DOUBLE adjective & adverb. dressmaker's dummy: see sense 5b above. in dummy in dummy form. sell a dummy (to), sell the dummy (to) in football and other games, deceive (an opponent) by a feigned pass or kick. tailor's dummy: see sense 5b above. ventriloquist's dummy: see sense 5g above.
b. attrib. or as adjective. That is a dummy, of the nature of a dummy; counterfeit, sham. M19.
Special collocations & comb.: dummy run a practice, a trial run, a rehearsal. dummy teat, dummy tit a baby's dummy (see sense A.5e above).