From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishployploy /plɔɪ/ noun [countable] WAY/METHODa clever and dishonest way of tricking someone so that you can get an advantage His usual ploy is to pretend he’s ill.ploy to do something a smart ploy to win votes
Examples from the Corpus
ploy• It is a ploy, but he had good reason to believe it would be an effective one.• He's not really ill, it's just a ploy to make us feel sorry for him.• The religious element of their election campaign was a cynical ploy.• Why give her the satisfaction of knowing her ploy had succeeded?• But his main ploy was to portray Weld as a friend of the rich eager to reduce educational opportunities for ordinary citizens.• A neat marketing ploy, and a good way of interesting children in aviation.• Using government subsidies to increase local authority rents is not a new ploy.• Certainly Mosley's constant harping on the theme of left-wing intimidation was a fairly effective recruiting ploy throughout the 1930s.• The ploy didn't work.• This ploy should give the stockmarket a boost.ploy to do something• This isn't a ploy to be recommended.• This may have been coincidence or, as we noted earlier, a deliberate ploy to enhance his own standing.• He claims it is a deliberate ploy to squeeze out weaker brokers.• Use every ploy to project my reality in defence of my choices.• This is a good ploy to get the children to shout loud but then to contain the noise within the call.• Apple's altruism was also labelled as a smart ploy to introduce the nation's youngsters to its products.Origin ploy (1600-1700) Probably from employ 