# dummy

Pronunciation: say "DUM-ee" /ˈdʌmi/

## Noun

1. A figure built with the size and shape of a human, used in place of a real person.
   - Simple: A model of a person, the same size and shape, used instead 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._
3. A stupid person; someone who does or says foolish things. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: Someone who is not very smart.
   - _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._
4. A puppet in the form of a person or animal, used by a ventriloquist.
   - Simple: A puppet used by a ventriloquist, a performer who makes it seem to talk.
   - _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._
5. A device or tool deliberately made not to work, used in place of a working one.
   - Simple: A fake tool or machine that does not work, used instead of a real 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._
6. A pacifier; a plastic or rubber teat that a baby sucks for comfort. *(Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, UK)*
   - Simple: A rubber or plastic thing that a baby sucks on to feel calm.
   - _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._
7. In bridge, the declarer's partner, whose hand is laid face up on the table and played by the declarer; also that hand itself.
   - Simple: In bridge, the player whose cards lie face up for the partner to play, or those cards.
   - _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._
9. A pretended pass, kick, or other play, or a movement of the body, made to deceive an opponent.
   - Simple: A fake pass or kick, or a body move, that tricks a player on the other team.
   - _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._
10. A parameter or value that is supplied or kept but not actually used.
   - Simple: A value in a program that is there but is not 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._
11. A person who serves merely as the tool of another, put forward to act in their place.
   - Simple: A person who only does what someone else wants and has no power of their own.
   - _The company was registered in the name of a dummy, while the real owners stayed hidden._
   - _Critics dismissed the chairman as a dummy whose strings were pulled by the founder._
13. A word present only to make a construction grammatical, contributing no meaning of its own.
   - Simple: A word that is in a sentence only because the grammar needs it, not for its meaning.
   - _Linguists treat the there of "There are three problems" as a dummy, since it points to no place._
   - _Languages that can drop the subject need no dummy in sentences about the weather._
14. A sample version of a book, magazine, page, or package, assembled before production to work out or test its layout, size, and appearance.
   - Simple: An early model of a book, magazine, page, or package, used to check its size and look before it is made.
   - _Before sending the catalog to the printer, the art director marked up a full-size dummy with notes on every spread._
   - _The packaging team built three dummies of the cereal box to compare side by side on a store shelf._
16. A casual, friendly way of addressing someone, especially a friend. *(slang, US)*
   - Simple: A friendly name to call a friend when you talk to them.
   - _"Dummy, what you been up to?" he called across the street, grinning._
   - _"Ayo, dummy, pass me the ball," Marcus shouted to his best friend._

## Adjective

2. Not genuine or not intended for actual use, serving instead as a placeholder, practice version, decoy, or fake.
   - Simple: Not real or not meant for real use, but standing in for the real thing as a fake or for practice.
   - _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._

## Verb

8. To make a deceptive move, such as a pretended pass or kick, in order to fool an opponent.
   - Simple: To pretend to make a move in a game to trick a player from the other team.
   - _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._
12. To make a mock-up or prototype of something that lacks some or all of the features it is meant to have.
   - Simple: To make a simple model of something that does not fully work yet.
   - _The art department dummied the first issue to see how the layout would look in print._
   - _Engineers often dummy a control panel in cardboard before building the real one._

## Adverb

15. Extremely; to an unusual degree. *(slang, US)*
   - Simple: Really very, as in very hot or very good.
   - _The line for the new sneakers was dummy long, but we waited anyway._
   - _Bro, this sandwich is dummy expensive for what it is._

## Noun

17. A person who is silent or does not speak. *(dated)*
   - Simple: A person who is silent and does not talk.

## Other meanings

- (noun) A newborn animal, especially a foal, that seems dazed after birth, wandering aimlessly, ignoring its mother and unable to nurse properly.
- (noun) In fairy chess, a piece that is unable to move or capture yet can be taken, and that lets a player pass rather than move another piece.

## Origin

Formed from dumb + -y. The pacifier sense comes from dummy teat, where dummy means a replica that does not really work.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/dummy (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).