ploy Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun an opening remark intended to secure an advantage for the speaker
    gambit.
  2. noun a maneuver in a game or conversation
    gambit; stratagem.

WordNet

Ploy noun
Definitions
  1. Sport; frolic. Prov. Eng. & Scot.
Ploy intransitive verb
Etymology
Prob. abbrev. fr. deploy.
Definitions
  1. (Mil.) To form a column from a line of troops on some designated subdivision; -- the opposite of deploy. Wilhelm.

Webster 1913