cat's-paw

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The Word of the Day for June 3 is: 

cat's-paw   \KATS-PAW\   noun
     1 : light air that ruffles the surface of the water in irregular patches 
during a calm 
    *2: one used by another as a tool : dupe 
     3 : a hitch knot formed with two eyes for attaching a line to a hook 

Example sentence:
     Andy was the one who was caught playing the prank, but he was just a 
cat's-paw for Lenny, who dared him to do it.

Did you know?
     Being made a cat's-paw may not only be embarrassing -- it can leave you 
with singed fingers (or paws, as the case may be). The "dupe" sense of 
"cat's-paw" comes from an old fable in which a monkey uses flattery to trick a 
cat into taking chestnuts out of the fire where they are roasting. The cat 
succeeds in removing the chestnuts but also burns his paw in the process. And 
when the unsuspecting feline turns around, he discovers that the monkey has 
cracked and eaten all the nuts!

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.