stalking-horse (n.)

  1. a candidate put forward to divide the Opposition or to mask the true candidate

  2. something serving to conceal plans; a fictitious reason that is concocted in order to conceal the real reason

    [ Syn: pretext ]

  3. screen consisting of a figure of a horse behind which a hunter hides while stalking game

  4. a horse behind which a hunter hides while stalking game

The dictionary is based on the WordNet Electronic Lexical Database.
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