lure#

lure n Lure, bait, decoy, snare, trap all denote something that leads an animal or a person into a particular place or situation from which escape is difficult.

Lure suggests something that always attracts and often deceives

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threw out all the lures of her beauty ... to make a prize of his heart— Peacock

}

yet does not necessarily lead one into evil or into danger

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how many have with a smile made small account of beauty and her lures ... on worthier things intent!— Milton

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Often the connotation of deception is subordinated or lost and that of drawing power or seductiveness is correspondingly heightened

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how can they resist . . . the lure of so adventurous, so enchanting an invitation?— L. P. Smith

}

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the lure of the simple life— Buchan

}

Bait basically applies to a morsel of food by which a fish or other animal is enticed into a situation where it can be caught. In extended use it is applied to something, often in itself relatively insignificant, which is held out as a temptation or as a suggestion of an inviting prospect in the hope or with the result of inveigling someone into a desired act, position, or situation

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shop windows filled with baits to shoppers

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in spite of her shyness, the girl's beauty was sufficient bait to attract many suitors

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the Festival has . . . signed a big-name movie star to act as bait for those who must have a pinch of glamour added to their culture— Sat. Review

}

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the bait may be reunification of East and West Germany, which all Germans are loudly demanding—/!. E. Stevenson

}

Decoy may apply to a wildfowl or the likeness of one which is used to lure other wildfowl into shooting range or into a net. In extended use it is applied to a person or sometimes to a thing that leads one to go somewhere or to do something that exposes one to the danger of being entrapped (as in the commission of crime, in compromising or unpleasant circumstances, or into being used to further another person's ends)

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pretty young girls were the unconscious decoys by means of which she assembled numbers of men at her receptions

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the troops were led into ambush by a decoy

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are said to have lured ships onto the dangerous Brigantine shoals in order to plunder them. The decoy was a lantern hanging from a pole lashed to a jackass— Amer. Guide Series: N. J.

}

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wealthy department stores had the idea of using their book sections as decoys to draw the public into their doors by offering the latest big-selling books at heavily cut prices— Times Lit. Sup.

}

Snare basically applies to a line with a running noose for catching a bird or animal. In extended use it is applicable to a danger one may run into accidentally or unexpectedly or through lack of caution or wariness and from which, once involved, one cannot easily extricate oneself

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the path to bliss abounds with many a snare— Cowper

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thou know'st the snares on ev'ry hand, guide thou their steps alway— Burns

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the wish for perfect security is one of those snares we are always falling into— Russell

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led years before into the snare of matrimony with him, in consequence of which she was encumbered with the bringing up of six children— Stowe

}

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she meant to weave me a snare ... to entangle me when we met— Tennyson

}

{

gin's but a snare of Old Nick the deluder— Barham

}

Trap basically applies to a device that shuts with a spring for capturing animals. In extended use it is, like snare, applied to what is a danger to the unwary or incautious. The two words are often used interchangeably as though they were indistinguishable in meaning; however, trap is preferred to snare when disastrous effects, or deliberate setting for the purposes of capture, or trickery beyond detection are implied

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the army feared a trap but rather than retreat, they advanced into it

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a trap for speeders

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knowing the examiner's methods, he was certain that there would be a trap set for him but he could discover none

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they accused the Western Powers of setting a trap for Italy so that she would be irrevocably tied to them— Collier's Yr. Bk.

}

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with traps and obstacles and hazards confronting us on every hand, only blindness or indifference will fail to turn ... for guidance or for warning, to the study of examples— Cardozo

}

lure vb Lure, entice, inveigle, decoy, tempt, seduce are comparable when they mean to draw one from a situation or a course (as of action or behavior) typically felt as right, desirable, or usual or into one felt as wrong, undesirable, or unusual.

Lure implies the action of a strong or irresistible influence which may be baneful

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sensationalism that had lured new readers to the yellow journals during the circulation wars of the 1890's— H. L. Smith

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or perfectly innocuous or even desirable

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stretches of woodland dotted with lakes where hunting and fishing lure sportsmen from many distant points— American Guide Series: Me.

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the essential thing is to lure into classroom instruction the finest type of trained men and women— Fuess

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Entice adds to lure a strong suggestion of artfulness and adroitness

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with her . . . high-mindedness she enticed him into a sphere of spirituality that was not his native realm— Stahl

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she appeared to be playing with the bird, possibly amusing herself by trying to entice it on to her hand— Hudson

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Inveigle implies the use of wiles and often of deceit and flattery

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with patience and diplomacy, she can eventually inveigle him into marrying her— Maker

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Distinctively, it may apply to the coaxing of something from someone by such means

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although he used the most subtle means to inveigle the author into the office to read the press notices, he never succeeded— Bok

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over gin and water we inveigled from him a pack of well-worn cards— Beaglehole

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Decoy may mean to entrap or lead (as into danger) by artifice and especially by false appearances

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the islanders had been living in relative opulence from the wreckage of ships which they had skillfully decoyed to destruction on the reefs— Barbour

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the female bird . . . practiced the same arts upon us to decoy us away— Burroughs

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Tempt historically meant and still may mean to entice into evil through hope of pleasure or gain

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[weak] . . . nations tempt others to prey upon them— Richards

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In more general use it may carry a suggestion of exerting such an attraction as inclines one to act against one's better judgment or higher principles

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the receipt of remuneration from patents or copyrights tempts the owners thereof to retard or inhibit research or to restrict the benefits derivable therefrom—W. T. & Barbara Fitts

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but more often implies an attracting or inducing that is morally perfectly neutral

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the decision to tempt women away from their gray flannel suits . . . with a kaleidoscope of color— Americana Annual

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had a personality that could tempt a female ichthyologist's interests away from fish— Current Biog.

}

Seduce usually means to lead astray (as from the course of rectitude, propriety, or duty) by overcoming scruples

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the hideous beast whose craft had seduced me into murder— Poe

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and even in its most favorable senses in which it implies a moving or turning into a new course it commonly suggests some degree of deluding or misleading as the method employed

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words when used with the gift of magic can seduce a reader into belief that has no roots in reality— Feld

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knew how to seduce the interest of his pupils; he did not drive, he led— Anspacher

}

Analogous words: ensnare, snare, entrap, trap, capture, *catch, bag: bewitch, fascinate, allure, captivate, *attract: blandish, wheedle, cajole (see COAX)

Antonyms: revolt, repel