stalking horse

noun

stalk·​ing horse ˈstȯ-kiŋ- How to pronounce stalking horse (audio)
1
: a horse or a figure like a horse behind which a hunter stalks game
2
: something used to mask a purpose
3
: a candidate put forward to divide the opposition or to conceal someone's real candidacy

Examples of stalking horse in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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Vintage Wine Estates has received several stalking horse offers in its bankruptcy auction. Kimberly Chin, Axios, 16 Sep. 2024 Horowitz sold him some forty archives and collections, for about $25 million, and routinely used him as a sounding board and a stalking horse. Tad Friend, The New Yorker, 21 Oct. 2024 Driving the news: Discount retail chain Big Lots entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy last week, with a stalking horse agreement to boot. Kimberly Chin, Axios, 16 Sep. 2024 Lids' opening bid, known as the stalking horse bid, is 62% of the cost value of the retailer's inventory on hand at the time of the sale's closure date, estimated to equal about $4.25 million. Jc Reindl, Detroit Free Press, 10 Sep. 2024 See all Example Sentences for stalking horse 

Word History

First Known Use

1519, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of stalking horse was in 1519

Dictionary Entries Near stalking horse

Cite this Entry

“Stalking horse.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stalking%20horse. Accessed 23 Dec. 2024.

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