stalking horse

[staw-king hawrs] / ˈstɔ kɪŋ ˌhɔrs /

NOUN

dark horse

Synonyms

STRONGEST

also-ran long shot sleeper underdog

WEAK

hundred-to-one shot improbability little chance little opportunity outside chance outside shot poor bet poor lookout poor possibility poor prognosis poor prospect slim chance small chance unexpected winner unknown unknown quantity unlikelihood unlikely winner upsetter

NOUN

hunter

Synonyms

STRONG

chaser courser foxhound hound

WEAK

gun dog hound dog hunting dog hunting horse rabbit hound

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

“While the writing has been on the wall for some time, the market’s perception of Google has dramatically reversed over the past several months – transforming from an AI loser, bleeding its search dominance, to a stalking horse destined to undercut the most consensus AI winners..”

From MarketWatch

Now the Antichrist may be a stalking horse for a different question: what it means, in some genetically stable sense, to be human.

From The Wall Street Journal

The attack on subsidies is a stalking horse for their long-term project of killing Obamacare.

From Los Angeles Times

A Labour source said: "I've heard of a stalking horse, but this guy is going to get hoarse from his endless stalking."

From BBC

Journalism is not a speed horse but more of a stalking horse that doesn’t go to the lead, leaving a lot of run left when he hits the homestretch.

From Los Angeles Times

stalking horse

Example Sentences

Related Words