STALKING HORSES Synonyms: 31 Similar and Opposite Words

stalking horses

noun

plural of stalking horse

as in competitors

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for stalking horses

Noun

Samsung has been monitoring where certain departing employees went — to signal to remaining staff that moving to competitors would be difficult — according to a former employee.

— Jenny Lee, CNBC, 5 Nov. 2026
But that seems like a far cry from the adversarial or defensive missions Shield Space and its competitors imagine.

— Mark Piesing, Space.com, 4 Nov. 2026

Definition of competitors

Noun

Cut Week will mark the biggest elimination in The Voice history, when each coach will send two singers straight through to Live Shows as five more contestants battle for one remaining spot on each team.

— Alicia Urrea, Billboard, 2 Nov. 2026
Uninterested Woman Game Show A classic game show premise, where our contestants are three scuzzy-looking men (Inde Navarrette, Jane Wickline, and Sarah Sherman) who really cannot just leave a married lesbian named Kelly (Saidah Belo-Osagie) alone.

— Rima Parikh, Vulture, 1 Nov. 2026

Definition of contestants

Noun

McLaren's Lando Norris won here last year, but recent form makes Max Verstappen or Antonelli the favorites to win.

— Jibin Joseph, PC Magazine, 30 Oct. 2026
The Packers haven’t had this big of a spread as favorites all season, primarily a reaction to Carolina’s blowout loss last week and a short travel week to follow.

— Hank Gola, New York Daily News, 29 Oct. 2026

Definition of favorites

Noun

There are five of these entries, at 18-, 28-, 34-, 41- and 53-Across.

— New York Times, New York Times, 3 Nov. 2026
Dodge will once again give the Cup Series four manufacturers, joining Chevrolet, Ford and Toyota in fielding entries to compete in a 36-race schedule that begins in mid-February and crowns a champion in early November.

— CBS News, CBS News, 3 Nov. 2026

Definition of entries

Noun

Remote workers can stay longer with the 12-Month Barbados Welcome Stamp, which lets eligible applicants live and work remotely on the island for a year.

— Lauren Dana Ellman, Travel + Leisure, 3 Nov. 2026
Applications to the school do not require applicants to disclose prior criminal convictions, the person said.

— Sophia Compton, FOXNews.com, 3 Nov. 2026

Definition of applicants

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

stalking horse

stalking horses

stalks

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Stalking horses.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stalking%20horses. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of stalking horses

noun

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

quondam

Popular in Grammar & Usage

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Popular in Wordplay

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Old-Timey Vehicles

The Words of the Week - Nov. 6

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Popular

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Games & Quizzes