stalking horse noun

Click to hear the UK pronunciation of this word

Click to hear the US pronunciation of this word

n [C]

Definition

If a group of politicians use someone who has no chance of winning as a stalking horse, they make that person compete for a position in order to divide the opposition or to take attention away from another person who they really want to win.

(Definition of stalking horse noun from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

+ Free Dictionary Toolbar for Browsers
+ Add Dictionary Search to iGoogle and your website

+ Become a fan on Facebook
+ Follow us on Twitter!

Browse the Dictionary

stalemate noun
stalk noun
stalk verb (FOLLOW)
stalk verb (WALK)
stalker noun
stalking horse noun
stall noun (SHOP)
stall noun (SMALL AREA)
stall noun (SEATS)
stall verb (ENGINE)
stall verb (DELAY)

Browse the Thesaurus

Business
Clothes
Education
Finance
Light and colour
Personal care

SMART Thesaurus

Synonyms and related words:

aye
candidate
carpetbagger
constituency
constituent
contestant
elector
electoral college
electoral register
electorate
floating voter
no
nominee
plurality
slate
swing voter
ticket
voter

Topic: Voters and Candidates in elections

Our dictionaries

British English
American English
Business English
Learner's Dictionary
Essential British English
Essential American English

English-Spanish
Español-inglés
English-Turkish

Word of the Day

tenterhooks

worried or nervous about something that is going to happen

Word of the Day ►

Blog

Read our blog about how the English language behaves.

Learn More ►

New Words

Find words and meanings that have just started to be used in English, and let us know what you think of them.