Trojan horse
noun
1
: someone or something intended to defeat or subvert from within usually by deceptive means
2
: a seemingly useful computer program that contains concealed instructions which when activated perform an illicit or malicious action (such as destroying data files)
also : the concealed instructions of such a program compare virus sense 3
Did you know?
After besieging the walls of Troy for ten years, the Greeks built a huge, hollow wooden horse, secretly filled it with armed warriors, and presented it to the Trojans as a gift for the goddess Athena, and the Trojans took the horse inside the city's walls. That night, the armed Greeks swarmed out and captured and burned the city. A Trojan horse is thus anything that looks innocent but, once accepted, has power to harm or destroy—for example, a computer program that seems helpful but ends up corrupting or demolishing the computer's software.
Example Sentences
They may be using the other corporation as a Trojan horse.
Word History
Etymology
from the large hollow wooden horse filled with Greek soldiers and introduced within the walls of Troy by a stratagem
First Known Use
1837, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Trojan horse
noun
as in Potemkin village
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- Potemkin village
- fig leaf
- blind
- shield
- screen
- camouflage
- concealer
- disguise
- cope
- blanket
- hood
- mask
- veneer
- veil
- shroud
- facade
- covering
- mantle
- robe
- varnish
- cloak
- wraps
- curtain
- penumbra
- face
- pall
- coverture
- façade
- cover
- gloss
- cover-up
- European walnut
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- europeanisation
- europeanisations
- europeanise
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- europeanises
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- Europeanism
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- europeanization
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- Europeanly
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- europeans