Adjacent Words

Trick definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

TRICK, n. [L. tricor, to play tricks, to trifle, to baffle. We see the same root in the Low L. intrico, to fold, and in intrigue. Trick is from drawing, that is, a drawing aside, or a folding, interweaving, implication.]
1. An artifice or stratagem for the purpose of deception; a fraudful contrivance for an evil purpose, or an underhand scheme to impose upon the world; a cheat or cheating. We hear of tricks in bargains, and tricks of state.
He comes to me for counsel, and I show him a trick.
2. A dexterous artifice.
On one nice trick depends the gen'ral fate.
3. Vicious practice; as the tricks of youth.
4. The sly artifice or legerdemain of a juggler; as the tricks of a merry Andrew.
5. A collection of cards laid together.
6. An unexpected event.
Some trick not worth an egg. [Unusual.]
7. A particular habit or manner; as, he has a trick of drumming with his fingers, or a trick of frowning. [This word is in common use in America, and by no means vulgar.]
TRICK, v.t. To deceive; to impose on; to defraud; to cheat; as, to trick another in the sale of a horse.
TRICK, v.t. To dress; to decorate; to set off; to adorn fantastically.
Trick her off in air.
It is often followed by up, off, or out.
People are lavish in tricking up their children in fine clothes, yet starve their minds.
TRICK, v.i. To live by deception and fraud.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a cunning or deceitful action or device; "he played a trick on me"; "he pulled a fast one and got away with it" [syn: trick, fast one]
2: a period of work or duty
3: an attempt to get you to do something foolish or imprudent; "that offer was a dirty trick"
4: a ludicrous or grotesque act done for fun and amusement [syn: antic, joke, prank, trick, caper, put-on]
5: an illusory feat; considered magical by naive observers [syn: magic trick, conjuring trick, trick, magic, legerdemain, conjuration, thaumaturgy, illusion, deception]
6: a prostitute's customer [syn: whoremaster, whoremonger, john, trick]
7: (card games) in a single round, the sequence of cards played by all the players; the high card is the winner v
1: deceive somebody; "We tricked the teacher into thinking that class would be cancelled next week" [syn: flim-flam, play a joke on, play tricks, trick, fob, fox, pull a fast one on, play a trick on]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English trikke, from Anglo-French *trik, from trikier to deceive, cheat, from Vulgar Latin *triccare, alteration of Latin tricari to behave evasively, shuffle, from tricae complications, trifles Date: 15th century 1. a. a crafty procedure or practice meant to deceive or defraud b. a mischievous act ; prank c. an indiscreet or childish action d. a deceptive, dexterous, or ingenious feat; especially one designed to puzzle or amuse <a juggler's tricks> 2. a. a habitual peculiarity of behavior or manner <a horse with the trick of shying> b. a characteristic and identifying feature <a trick of speech> c. a delusive appearance especially when caused by art or legerdemain ; an optical illusion <a mere trick of the light> 3. a. (1) a quick or artful way of getting a result ; knack <the trick is to make it look natural> (2) an instance of getting a desired result <one small adjustment will do the trick> b. a technical device (as of an art or craft) <the tricks of stage technique> 4. the cards played in one round of a card game often used as a scoring unit 5. a. a turn of duty at the helm usually lasting for two hours b. shift 4b(1) c. a trip taken as part of one's employment d. a sexual act performed by a prostitute <turning tricks>; also john 2 6. an attractive child or woman <a cute little trick> Synonyms: trick, ruse, stratagem, maneuver, artifice, wile, feint mean an indirect means to gain an end. trick may imply deception, roguishness, illusion, and either an evil or harmless end <the tricks of the trade>. ruse stresses an attempt to mislead by a false impression <the ruses of smugglers>. stratagem implies a ruse used to entrap, outwit, circumvent, or surprise an opponent or enemy <the stratagem-filled game>. maneuver suggests adroit and skillful avoidance of difficulty <last-minute maneuvers to avert bankruptcy>. artifice implies ingenious contrivance or invention <the clever artifices of the stage>. wile suggests an attempt to entrap or deceive with false allurements <used all of his wiles to ingratiate himself>. feint implies a diversion or distraction of attention away from one's real intent <a feint toward the enemy's left flank>. II. transitive verb Date: circa 1500 1. to dress or adorn fancifully or ornately ; ornament <tricked out in a gaudy uniform> 2. to deceive by cunning or artifice ; cheat III. adjective Date: circa 1530 1. trig 2. a. of or relating to or involving tricks or trickery <trick photography> <trick dice> b. skilled in or used for tricks <a trick horse> 3. a. somewhat defective and unreliable <a trick lock> b. inclined to give way unexpectedly <a trick knee>

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. 1 an action or scheme undertaken to fool, outwit, or deceive. 2 an optical or other illusion (a trick of the light). 3 a special technique; a knack or special way of doing something. 4 a a feat of skill or dexterity. b an unusual action (e.g. begging) learned by an animal. 5 a mischievous, foolish, or discreditable act; a practical joke (a mean trick to play). 6 a peculiar or characteristic habit or mannerism (has a trick of repeating himself). 7 a the cards played in a single round of a card-game, usu. one from each player. b such a round. c a point gained as a result of this. 8 (attrib.) done to deceive or mystify or to create an illusion (trick photography; trick question). 9 Naut. a sailor's turn at the helm, usu. two hours. --v.tr. 1 deceive by a trick; outwit. 2 (often foll. by out of, or into + verbal noun) cheat; treat deceitfully so as to deprive (were tricked into agreeing; were tricked out of their savings). 3 (of a thing) foil or baffle; take by surprise; disappoint the calculations of. Phrases and idioms: do the trick colloq. accomplish one's purpose; achieve the required result. how's tricks? colloq. how are you? not miss a trick see MISS(1). trick cyclist 1 a cyclist who performs tricks, esp. in a circus. 2 sl. a psychiatrist. trick of the trade a special usu. ingenious technique or method of achieving a result in an industry or profession etc. trick or treat esp. US a children's custom of calling at houses at Hallowe'en with the threat of pranks if they are not given a small gift. trick out (or up) dress, decorate, or deck out esp. showily. up to one's tricks colloq. misbehaving. up to a person's tricks aware of what a person is likely to do by way of mischief. Derivatives: tricker n. trickish adj. trickless adj. Etymology: ME f. OF dial. trique, OF triche f. trichier deceive, of unkn. orig.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Trick Trick, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Tricked; p. pr. & vb. n. Tricking.] 1. To deceive by cunning or artifice; to impose on; to defraud; to cheat; as, to trick another in the sale of a horse. 2. To dress; to decorate; to set off; to adorn fantastically; -- often followed by up, off, or out. `` Trick her off in air.'' --Pope. People lavish it profusely in tricking up their children in fine clothes, and yet starve their minds. --Locke. They are simple, but majestic, records of the feelings of the poet; as little tricked out for the public eye as his diary would have been. --Macaulay. 3. To draw in outline, as with a pen; to delineate or distinguish without color, as arms, etc., in heraldry. They forget that they are in the statutes: . . . there they are tricked, they and their pedigrees. --B. Jonson.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Trick Trick, n. [D. trek a pull, or drawing, a trick, trekken to draw; akin to LG. trekken, MHG. trecken, trechen, Dan. tr[ae]kke, and OFries. trekka. Cf. Track, Trachery, Trig, a., Trigger.] 1. An artifice or stratagem; a cunning contrivance; a sly procedure, usually with a dishonest intent; as, a trick in trade.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(tricks, tricking, tricked) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. A trick is an action that is intended to deceive someone. We are playing a trick on a man who keeps bothering me. N-COUNT 2. If someone tricks you, they deceive you, often in order to make you do something. Stephen is going to be pretty upset when he finds out how you tricked him... His family tricked him into going to Pakistan, and once he was there, they took away his passport... His real purpose is to trick his way into your home to see what he can steal. VERB: V n, V n into -ing/n, V way prep/adv 3. A trick is a clever or skilful action that someone does in order to entertain people. He shows me card tricks. N-COUNT 4. A trick is a clever way of doing something. Tiffany revamped her sitting room with simple decorative tricks. N-COUNT 5. see also confidence trick, conjuring trick, hat-trick 6. If something does the trick, it achieves what you wanted. (INFORMAL) Sometimes a few choice words will do the trick. PHRASE: V inflects 7. If someone tries every trick in the book, they try every possible thing that they can think of in order to achieve something. (INFORMAL) Companies are using every trick in the book to stay one step in front of their competitors. PHRASE: v PHR 8. If you say that something is a trick of the light, you mean that what you are seeing is an effect caused by the way that the light falls on things, and does not really exist in the way that it appears. Her head appears to be on fire but that is only a trick of the light. PHRASE: v-link PHR 9. If you say that someone does not miss a trick, you mean that they always know what is happening and take advantage of every situation. (INFORMAL) PHRASE: V inflects, with brd-neg 10. The tricks of the trade are the quick and clever ways of doing something that are known by people who regularly do a particular activity. PHRASE: trick inflects 11. If you say that someone is up to their tricks or up to their old tricks, you disapprove of them because they are behaving in the dishonest or deceitful way in which they typically behave. (INFORMAL) I have no respect for my father who, having remarried, is still up to his old tricks. PHRASE: v-link PHR [disapproval]

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. n. 1. Artifice, stratagem, wile, cheat, dodge, doubling, fraud, chicane, blind, feint, manaeuvre, deceit, imposition, imposture, deception, juggle, reach, shuffle, hocus-pocus, swindle, chouse, fetch, humbug, hoax, cog, gammon, cunning contrivance, sharp practice, ruse. 2. Sleight, juggle, antic, caper, gambol. 3. Mischievous behavior, annoying conduct. 4. Habit, practice, peculiarity, particular manner. II. v. a. 1. Cheat, defraud, deceive, cozen, dupe, delude, circumvent, gull, chouse, diddle, overreach, impose upon. 2. [Often followed by up, off, or out.] Dress, decorate, set off, adorn fantastically, bedizen, bedeck.

Moby Thesaurus

ability, accomplishment, ace, action, ad hoc measure, affectation, airy nothing, alibi, anchor watch, answer, antic, apology, aroma, art, artful dodge, artifice, attribute, autism, automatism, bad habit, badge, bag of tricks, bamboozle, be effective, befool, beguile, best bower, betray, bilk, bit, blind, bluff, bosey, bower, brand, bubble, cabal, cachet, cajole, cantrip, caper, cards, cast, catch, catchy, character, characteristic, cheat, cheat on, chicane, chicanery, chimera, chouse, circumvent, cloak, clubs, collusion, color, command of language, complicity, complot, con, confederacy, configuration, conjure, connivance, conspiracy, contrivance, contriving, countermove, counterplot, coup, course of action, cover, cover story, cover-up, covin, cozen, craft, creature of habit, crotchet, curve, curve-ball, custom, cut, cute trick, day shift, daydream, deceit, deceive, deception, deck, deed, deep-laid plot, defective, defraud, delude, deluded belief, delusion, demarche, dereism, design, deuce, device, diamonds, diddle, dido, differentia, differential, dirty deal, dirty trick, distinctive feature, do the trick, dodge, dogwatch, double-cross, dream, dream vision, dreamland, dreamworld, dummy, dupe, earmark, eccentricity, effort, engineering, exaggeration, excuse, expedient, expression of ideas, facade, face cards, fake out, fakement, false belief, fashion, fast deal, feat, feature, feel, feeling for words, feint, fetch, ficelle, figure, fill the bill, finagling, finesse, flavor, flimflam, flush, foible, fool, force of habit, forestall, form of speech, frame-up, fraud, frolic, front, full house, full time, gag, gambit, game, gammon, get around, gift, gimmick, gloss, googly, grace of expression, grandiloquence, graveyard shift, grift, guise, gull, gust, habit, habit pattern, habitude, half time, hallmark, hand, handle, hang, have, hearts, hoax, hocus-pocus, hoodwink, hornswaggle, horseplay, humbug, idiocrasy, idiosyncrasy, ignis fatuus, illusion, imposture, impress, impression, improvisation, index, individualism, inflation, insecure, intrigue, jack, jape, jig, joker, juggle, jugglery, jury-rig, jury-rigged expedient, keynote, kid, king, knack, knave, knavery, lame excuse, last expedient, last resort, last shift, left bower, leg-pull, legerdemain, let down, lineaments, literary style, little game, lobster trick, locus standi, machination, magic, make merry with, makeshift, maneuver, maneuvering, manipulation, manner, manner of speaking, mannerism, mark, marking, mask, means, measure, minauderie, misbelief, mischief, misconception, misguide, misinform, mislead, mock, mode, mode of expression, mold, monkeyshines, move, nature, night shift, odor, ostensible motive, outmaneuver, outreach, outsmart, outwit, overreach, overtime, pack, pair, part time, particularity, pass, pattern, peculiar trait, peculiarity, personal style, picture cards, pigeon, pipe dream, pis aller, play one false, play pranks, play tricks, playing cards, plot, plotting, ploy, poor excuse, practical joke, practice, prank, praxis, pretense, pretension, pretext, property, protestation, public motive, put one on, put something over, put-off, quality, queen, quirk, racket, red herring, refuge, relay, resort, resource, rhetoric, rigging, rook, round, royal flush, rubber, ruff, ruse, savor, scheme, schemery, scheming, screen, scurvy trick, seal, second nature, secret, self-deceit, self-deception, self-delusion, semblance, shake-up, shaky, sham, shape, shenanigans, shift, show, singleton, singularity, skill, sleight, sleight of hand, sleight-of-hand trick, smack, smoke screen, snow, solution, spades, specialty, split schedule, split shift, spoof, sport, stalking-horse, stamp, step, stereotype, stereotyped behavior, stint, stopgap, straight, strain, stratagem, strategy, string along, stroke, stroke of policy, stunt, style, stylistic analysis, stylistics, subterfuge, suffice, sunrise watch, swindle, swing shift, tactic, taint, take, take in, tang, taste, technique, temporary expedient, the grand style, the plain style, the sublime, time, token, tomfoolery, touch, touchy, tour, tour of duty, trademark, trait, trey, trick of behavior, trickery, tricky, trip, trump, turn, turn of work, turn the trick, twist and turn, two-time, undependable, underplot, unreliable, unstable, untrustworthy, usage, use, vapor, varnish, veil, vein, victimize, waggish trick, watch, way, weakness, web of intrigue, wile, wily device, wire-pulling, wont, work, work shift, working hypothesis, working proposition, wrong impression