/ ˈdʌmi; NAmE / noun , adjective
■ noun ( pl. -ies )
1.
[ C ] a model of a person, used especially when making clothes or for showing them in a shop window :
a tailor's dummy
2.
[ C ] a thing that seems to be real but is only a copy of the real thing
3.
[ C ] ( NAmE , informal ) a stupid person :
Don't just stand there, you dummy.
4.
[ C ] ( in some sports ) an occasion when you pretend to pass the ball to another player and then do not do so
5.
[ C ] ( BrE ) ( NAmE paci·fier ) a specially shaped rubber or plastic object for a baby to suck
6.
[ U ] ( in card games, especially bridge ) the cards which are placed facing upwards on the table and which can be seen by all the players
■ adjective
[ only before noun ] made to look real, although it is actually a copy which does not work
SYN replica :
a dummy bomb
••
WORD ORIGIN
late 16th cent.: from dumb + -y . The original sense was a person who cannot speak , then an imaginary fourth player in whist (mid 18th cent.), whence a substitute for the real thing and a model of a human being (mid 19th cent.).