English

Noun

ploy ‎(plural ploys)

1. A tactic, strategy, or gimmick.
   • 2013 June 22, “Engineers of a different kind”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8841, page 70:

     Private-equity nabobs bristle at being dubbed mere financiers. […] Much of their pleading is public-relations bluster. Clever financial ploys are what have made billionaires of the industry’s veterans. “Operational improvement” in a portfolio company has often meant little more than promising colossal bonuses to sitting chief executives if they meet ambitious growth targets. That model is still prevalent today.

   The free t-shirt is really a ploy to get you in the door to see their sales pitch.‎

2. (Britain, Scotland, dialect) Sport; frolic.

Translations

Etymology 2

Probably abbreviated from deploy.

Verb

ploy ‎(third-person singular simple present ploys, present participle ploying, simple past and past participle ployed)

1. (military) To form a column from a line of troops on some designated subdivision.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Wilhelm to this entry?)

Antonyms

• deploy

Anagrams

• poly

Sranan Tongo

Verb

ploy

1. To flex.
2. To curve.