Definition of "honeypot"

A pot of honey.  examples

(figuratively) Something or someone similarly sweet or enticing, particularly:

1. (US slang, dated) A romantic pet name; "honey".

2. (slang) A vulva or vagina.  quotations

   Quotations

   • "[S]he had the boss eating from her honeypot." Baxter rolled his eyes at the crude term for pussy, but Rodney did have a point.

     2011, Mechele Armstrong, Code Monkey

3. (espionage) A spy (typically attractive and female) who uses sex to trap and blackmail a target.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • And the American Embassy in Moscow was infiltrated thanks to “honeypots,” Soviet women who seduced Marine guards.

     1989, The Washingtonian, volume 24, page 25

   • Perhaps in order to create his own, more controlled environment for debaucherie, he set up a house of prostitution with Gestapo funds, justifying it as a "honeypot" with which to ensnare unsuspecting foreign diplomats.

     1996, John H. Waller, The Unseen War in Europe: Espionage and Conspiracy in the Second World War, Random House, page 226

   • The NKVD uses attractive ballerinas for honeypot espionage.

     2004, Richard C.S. Trahair, Encyclopedia of Cold War Espionage, Spies, and Secret Operations, Greenwood Press, page 353

4. A woman who attracts sexual attention from men.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • Wherever the biggest bunch of men were in the room, you could bet Lisa'd be in the middle of them. What a honeypot.

     1993, Dana Stabenow, A Fatal Thaw, page 90

   • 'You're turning into a honeypot,' he would say to her: it was a criticism of sins uncommitted, it was jeering as if she were getting above herself, it was a warning, no doubt of that, and there was something else which she could barely fathom, it was hurt at the approaching betrayal, a staving off of loss.

     2012, Melvyn Bragg, Crossing The Lines

5. (computer security) A trap set to detect or deflect attempts at unauthorized use of information systems.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • Computer experts install honeypots to trick hackers.

     2007 October 12, “Data leak: Cyber sherlocks outwit hackers”, in The Economic Times, retrieved 29 June 2008

6. (chiefly Britain) A draw: a place which attracts visitors.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • Superb Roman remains, Georgian architecture and countless museums justify Bath's position as a tourist honeypot.

     2004 March 13, Bernice Davidson, “England 2004: Bright lights on the water”, in Telegraph.co.uk, retrieved 28 June 2008

(obsolete, euphemistic) A chamberpot.

(obsolete, euphemistic) A slop bucket.