1. pretend to be dead

2. to pretend to be vulnerable to avoid or entrap someone or something

(from a the fact that the Virgina opossum reacts to threats by feigning death)

Intelligence agency term for "psychological operation". A government or corporate-sponsored operation, usually taking the form of a "terrorist attack" or "crazed gunman on a spree", with the intent of panicking the public into demanding more police and laws inhibiting freedom. Psyops are usually carried out by drugging a civilian or group of civilians with aggression-promoting drugs, psyching them up, arming them, and sending them out to commit mayhem. Government-sponsored terrorism. See also blackshirts, conspiracy

verb
To fool someone into believing something that is not true. To fake.