English Explanatory Dictionary

trick

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. Something designed to fool, dupe, outsmart, mislead or swindle.
  2. A single element of a magician's (or any variety entertainer's) act; a magic trick.
  3. An entertaining difficult physical action.
  4. An effective, clever or quick way of doing something.
  5. Mischievous or annoying behavior; a prank.
  6. A particular habit or manner; a peculiarity; a trait.
  7. A knot, braid, or plait of hair.
  8. A sequence in which each player plays a card and a winning play is determined.
  9. A sex act, chiefly one performed for payment; an act of prostitution.
  10. A customer or client of a prostitute.
  11. A term of abuse.
  12. A daily period of work, especially in shift-based jobs.
verb
  1. To fool; to cause to believe something untrue; to deceive.
  2. To draw (as contrasted with to blazon, which is to describe in words).
  3. To dress; to decorate; to adorn fantastically; often followed by up, off, or out.
  4. To engage in prostitution or casual sex.
adj
  1. Involving trickery or deception.
  2. Able to perform tricks.
  3. Defective or unreliable.
  4. Stylish or cool.

Pronunciation

/ˈtɹɪk/ [ˈt̠ɹ̠̊˔ʷɪk] [ˈtɹ̝̊ʷɪk] en-us-trick.ogg

Word forms

trick tricks tricking tricked tricker trickest

Etymology

From Middle English trikke, from Old Northern French trique (related to Old French trichier (“to defraud, act dishonestly, conceal, deceive, cheat”); > modern French tricher), itself possibly from Middle High German trechen (“to launch a shot at, play a trick on”), or one of its derivatives (e.g. Middle High German ūftrechen (“to do something to someone, hurt someone”), vertrechen (“to conceal, get over on someone”), zuotrechen (“to obtain falsely or deceitfully, wangle, finagle”), etc.); yet the Old French verb is equally likely to be derived from Vulgar Latin *triccāre, from Late Latin tricāre, from Latin trīcor, trīcārī (“dodge, search for detours; haggle, quibble”). The term has been connected to Middle Dutch treck, trec (“draw, line, desire, game move, cord, stratagem, ruse, trick”), from Middle Dutch trekken, trēken (“to pull, place, put, move”), from Old Dutch *trekken, *trekan (“to move, drag”), from Proto-Germanic *trakjaną, *trekaną (“to drag, scrape, pull”), from Proto-Indo-European *dreg- (“to drag, scrape”). If they are related, trick would be cognate with Low German trekken, Middle High German trecken, trechen, Danish trække, and Old Frisian trekka, Romanian truc and other Romance languages. Compare track, treachery, trig, and trigger.

Synonyms

con gambit ploy rip-off artifice illusion magic trick sleight of hand john all-nighter curb crawler fare gonk jane jockey kerb crawler monger muttonmonger punter score short-timer steamer trick wapping cove whoremaster whoremonger shift dupe fool gull have hoodwink pull the wool over someone's eyes rip off mod

Derived words

bag of tricks Barton-Nackman trick bed trick brain trick card trick confidence trick conjuring trick con trick Davenport trick dirty trick vase dog's trick dog trick do the trick every trick in the book Gordie Howe hat trick hat-trick hidden-ball trick how's tricks? Indian rope trick know every trick in the book mango trick miss a trick one-trick one-trick pony one trick pony one-trick-ponyism one weird trick parlor trick parlour trick politricks rope trick Rosser's trick Scott's trick serve someone a trick the oldest trick in the book three-card trick trick cyclist trickish trickless trick mode trick of the light trick of the trade trick-or-treat trick-or-treater trick-or-treating trick play trick question tricksical tricksome tricksy trick turner trick up one's sleeve trick wig tricky turn a trick turn the trick turn tricks vanishing trick tricker trickery
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