sleeper
n.— «For many of Ms. Scavo’s regulars—the eBay resellers, the pickers (who sell their finds to other dealers or designers and decorators) and the obsessive collectors—the sales are indeed fun, but also cutthroat. As they do throughout the region, dealers who come to her events have been known to hire sleepers, who arrive as early as two nights before to reserve the first spots in line.» —“No Such Thing as Junk” by Susan Dominus New York Times Mar. 5, 2007. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Sean in Oneonta, New York, says that when he was growing up in New Jersey, his family would pile in the car and set off on a surprise adventure, whether a short distance or long, and the kids would be told only that they were going on Buxtehude...
Asthenosphere, a geologist’s term for the molten layer beneath the earth’s crust, sparks a journey that stretches all the way from ancient Greece to the author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Plus: What the heck is a dogberg? It’s when...