The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Puppet \Pup"pet\, n. [OE. popet, OF. poupette; akin to F.
   poup['e]e a doll, probably from L. puppa, pupa, a girl, doll,
   puppet. Cf. Poupeton, Pupa, Pupil, Puppy.] [Written
   also poppet.]
   1. A small image in the human form; a doll.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. A similar figure moved by the hand or by a wire in a mock
      drama; a marionette; a wooden actor in a play.
      [1913 Webster]

            At the pipes of some carved organ move,
            The gilded puppets dance.             --Pope.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. One controlled in his action by the will of another; a
      tool; -- so used in contempt. --Sir W. Scott.
      [1913 Webster]

   4. (Mach.) The upright support for the bearing of the spindle
      in a lathe.
      [1913 Webster]

   Puppet master. Same as Puppetman.

   Puppet play, a puppet show.

   Puppet player, one who manages the motions of puppets.

   Puppet show, a mock drama performed by puppets moved by
      wires.

   Puppet valve, a valve in the form of a circular disk, which
      covers a hole in its seat, and opens by moving bodily away
      from the seat while remaining parallel with it, -- used in
      steam engines, pumps, safety valves, etc. Its edge is
      often beveled, and fits in a conical recess in the seat
      when the valve is closed. See the valves shown in Illusts.
      of Plunger pump, and Safety valve, under Plunger,
      and Safety.
      [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

puppet
    n 1: a small figure of a person operated from above with strings
         by a puppeteer [syn: puppet, marionette]
    2: a person who is controlled by others and is used to perform
       unpleasant or dishonest tasks for someone else [syn:
       creature, tool, puppet]
    3: a doll with a hollow head of a person or animal and a cloth
       body; intended to fit over the hand and be manipulated with
       the fingers

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

212 Moby Thesaurus words for "puppet":
   Charlie McCarthy, Elzevir, Federal, adherent, agate, agent,
   amanuensis, ancilla, apple-polisher, appliance, ass-licker, baby,
   backscratcher, backslapper, baggage agent, ball, baseball bat, bat,
   battledore, bauble, blocks, bootlick, bootlicker, brown-nose,
   brownie, business agent, bust, carving, checkerboard, chessboard,
   cipher, claim agent, clawback, clerk, club, cockhorse,
   commercial agent, commission agent, consignee, contrivance,
   courtier, creature, cricket bat, cringer, cue, customer agent,
   device, disciple, doll, doll carriage, dolly, dud, dummy,
   duodecimo, dupe, factor, fantoccini, fawner, fed, federal agent,
   figure, figurehead, figurine, flatterer, flunky, follower,
   footlicker, freight agent, front, front man, functionary,
   general agent, gewgaw, gillie, gimcrack, gingerbread man,
   go-between, golf club, goon, groveler, handmaid, handmaiden,
   handshaker, hanger-on, helot, henchman, hireling, hobbyhorse,
   hollow man, implement, instrument, insurance agent, interagent,
   intermediary, intermediate, intermedium, jack-in-the-box, jackal,
   jacks, jackstones, jackstraw, jackstraws, kickshaw, knickknack,
   kowtower, lackey, land agent, law agent, lay figure, led captain,
   lever, lickspit, lickspittle, literary agent, loan agent, man,
   man of straw, manikin, mannequin, marble, marionette, mealymouth,
   mechanism, mediator, medium, microcosm, midwife, mig, mini,
   miniature, minion, minny, model, monument, myrmidon, nebbish,
   news agent, nobody, nominal head, nonentity, nothing, nullity,
   official, organ, paper doll, parliamentary agent, passenger agent,
   patsy, pawn, peon, pick-up sticks, pinwheel, plaything,
   portrait bust, press agent, purchasing agent, pushover, racket,
   rag doll, real estate agent, rocking horse, sales agent, satellite,
   scarecrow, sculpture, secretary, serf, servant, slave, snowman,
   spaniel, special agent, sport, station agent, statuary, statue,
   statuette, steelie, steward, stooge, subminiature, suck, sucker,
   sycophant, taw, teetotum, theatrical agent, thing of naught, thug,
   ticket agent, timeserver, toad, toady, tool, top, toy, toy soldier,
   travel agent, trifle, trinket, truckler, tufthunter, twelvemo,
   vehicle, votary, walking delegate, wax figure, waxwork, whim-wham,
   wood carving, yes-man, zero