dummy

Pluraldummies

Formsdummies, dummying, dummied

1. 1
   life-size figurenouncountable

   A figure built with the size and shape of a human, used in place of a real person.

   Engineers strapped a dummy fitted with sensors into the driver's seat before the crash.

   Lifeguards practice rescues on weighted dummies at the bottom of the pool.

   UsageCommon in crash-test dummy and tailor's dummy.

   Similarmannequin

   Note

   Such figures take a person's place where a real one would be hurt or cannot be had: dropped from a rooftop, strapped into a test car, sunk in a pool. The stand-in can fool more than machines: in Asbjørnsen's Folk and Fairy Tales, as H. L. Brækstad translated them, Gubjor plans to bury a dummy baby so that the dead will think they have the child. Source

   Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 6 facts

   • Human-shaped dummies substitute for people where using a person risks injury or requires an unavailable volunteer. ruthlee.com
   • Dummies can be dropped from rooftops. en.wiktionary.org
   • Dummies are strapped into cars for crash tests. nhtsa.gov
   • Dummies are sunk in pools for rescue training. ruthlee.com
   • Asbjørnsen wrote the tales, and H. L. Brækstad translated them. fiftywordsforsnow.com
   • Gubjor proposes burying a dummy baby to make the dead believe they have the real child. fiftywordsforsnow.com
2. 2
   adjective

   Not genuine or not intended for actual use, serving instead as a placeholder, practice version, decoy, or fake.

   Investigators traced the payments to a dummy company with no employees and no office.

   During training, the recruits loaded their rifles with dummy rounds that could not fire.

   UsageGoes before a noun: a dummy company, dummy rounds.

   Similarfake, sham, mock

   Oppositereal, genuine, live

   Note

   The adjective is closely tied to the stand-in device, a nonfunctional replica, and the word itself comes from dumb, so the underlying idea is something that looks the part but cannot speak or act. Source

   Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts

   • Dummy derives from dumb with the suffix -y. en.wiktionary.org
   • The reference to inability to speak reflects the historical meaning of dumb. en.wiktionary.org
3. 3
   foolnouncolloquialcountable

   A stupid person; someone who does or says foolish things.

   Only a dummy would leave the stove on and go out for the day.

   I felt like a dummy when I saw the answer had been on the board the whole time.

   Similardumdum

   Oppositegenius

4. 4
   talking dollnouncountable

   A puppet in the form of a person or animal, used by a ventriloquist.

   Perched on his knee, the wooden dummy traded insults with the ventriloquist.

   She keeps her grandfather's old dummy, the one from his stage act, in a case in the attic.

   Similarpuppet

5. 5
   nouncountable

   A device or tool deliberately made not to work, used in place of a working one.

   For close-ups, the armorer hands the actors a dummy instead of a real rifle.

   The bombs loaded for the training flight were dummies filled with sand.

   Similarreplica, fake, imitation

   Note

   Engineers use it for stand-in parts too: a National Bureau of Standards report on weighing vehicles describes equalizing blocks, called dummies, that bring two axles level while one is weighed. Display tools, prop rifles and sand-filled practice bombs are dummies in the same way, right in shape and useless on purpose. Source

   Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

   • A National Bureau of Standards report describes using equalizing blocks called dummies under one axle while weighing the other. govinfo.gov
   • The blocks bring the two axles into the same horizontal plane. govinfo.gov
   • Sand-filled inert practice bombs serve as substitutes for live bombs. livingstoncountywarmuseum.com
6. 6
   for babiesnounAustraliaIrelandNew ZealandUKcountable

   A pacifier; a plastic or rubber teat that a baby sucks for comfort.

   We've been trying to wean him off his dummy since his second birthday.

   She packed spare nappies, a bottle and two dummies in the changing bag.

   UsageIn American English, the word is pacifier.

   Similarsoother, binky, comforter

   Note

   The name is short for dummy teat, a teat that gives no milk, a stand-in for the real thing in the same way as the fake device. Parenting guides talk of weaning a child off the dummy or throwing all the dummies away. Source

   Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

   • The pacifier sense of dummy is shortened from dummy teat, with dummy meaning a nonfunctional replica. en.wiktionary.org
   • A dummy teat substitutes for a feeding nipple without supplying milk. en.wikipedia.org
7. 7
   card gamenoun

   In bridge, the declarer's partner, whose hand is laid face up on the table and played by the declarer; also that hand itself.

   After the opening lead, dummy spread her hand face up on the table.

   As dummy, he was not allowed to comment on his partner's play.

   UsageOften no article, like a title: as dummy, play from dummy.

   Note

   The word names both the player and the cards laid out: after the opening lead, dummy spreads every card face up, and declarer plays them along with their own hand. For that deal dummy may not suggest plays or comment on them, and the word often goes without an article, like a title: play from dummy, as dummy. Source

   Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

   • After the opening lead, dummy exposes all their cards for declarer to play. worldbridge.org
   • Declarer controls the play of both hands. acbl.org
8. 8
   fake a moveverbtransitive

   To make a deceptive move, such as a pretended pass or kick, in order to fool an opponent.

   The winger likes to dummy his marker before cutting inside onto his left foot.

   Rather than shoot, the midfielder dummied the low cross, and the striker behind him scored.

   UsageUse dummy with an opponent or a pass: dummy a defender, dummy a pass.

   Similarjuke

   Note

   The verb takes two kinds of object. The opponent can be the one fooled, as when a forward races on to a ball and dummies a defender, or the ball itself, as when Samir Nasri expertly dummied a pass and let it run on to Van Persie behind him. Juke is a close synonym. Source

   Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 1 fact

   • Samir Nasri dummied an incoming pass, allowing it to reach Van Persie. en.wiktionary.org
9. 9
   fake a movenouncountable

   A pretended pass, kick, or other play, or a movement of the body, made to deceive an opponent.

   The fly-half threw a dummy to the winger and cut back inside to score.

   With a quick dummy, the striker sent two defenders the wrong way.

   UsagePlayers throw or sell a dummy; a defender who falls for it buys it.

   Similarfeint, fake, juke

   Note

   In rugby the classic dummy is a pass shaped toward a teammate and never released, so the defense turns toward the wrong man while the ball carrier keeps going. Source

   Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

   • A rugby dummy pass imitates a pass toward a teammate without releasing the ball. rugbytoolbox.co.nz
   • The deception draws the defender toward the apparent recipient. rugbyworld.com
   • The ball carrier continues into the space created by the deception. rugbytoolbox.co.nz
10. 10
    unused valuenouncountable

    A parameter or value that is supplied or kept but not actually used.

    The old interface still requires a fourth argument, so callers pass a dummy.

    Fill the unused fields with dummies so that every record has the right length.

    Similarplaceholder

    Note

    A value is a dummy because of how it is used, not what it holds: the same argument can matter in one call and be a dummy in the next, as when a false flag makes the other parameters irrelevant. Often a dummy is passed only because an interface demands something in that slot. Source

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

    • A dummy's defining property is its lack of actual use. martinfowler.com
    • An argument can be relevant or unused depending on a Boolean control argument; R's ifelse provides an example. stat.ethz.ch
    • Dummy arguments can serve solely to fill required parameter positions. martinfowler.com

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