Trick Definition

trĭk
tricked, tricks, trickest
noun
tricks
An act or procedure intended to achieve an end by deceptive or fraudulent means.
American Heritage
An action or device designed to deceive, cheat, outwit, etc.; artifice; dodge; ruse; stratagem.
Webster's New World
A mischievous or playful act; prank, practical joke, etc.
Webster's New World
A freakish, foolish, mean, or stupid act.
Webster's New World
A deception or illusion.
The light played a trick on my eyes.
Webster's New World
verb
tricked, tricks
To cheat or deceive or to practice trickery or deception.
American Heritage
To deceive or swindle.
Webster's New World
(heraldry) To draw (as opposed to blazon - to describe in words).
Wiktionary

To dress; to decorate; to adorn fantastically; often followed by up, off, or out.

Wiktionary
Antonyms:
  • be serious
adjective
trickest
Of, relating to, or involving tricks.
American Heritage
Having to do with or used for a trick or tricks.
Webster's New World
That tricks.
Webster's New World
Apt to malfunction; of uncertain reliability.
A trick knee.
Webster's New World
Weak, defective, or liable to fail.
A trick knee.
American Heritage
idiom
do
  • To bring about the desired result.
American Heritage
how's tricks
  • Used to make a friendly inquiry about a person or that person's affairs.
American Heritage
not miss a trick
  • To be extremely alert:

    The teacher was known for not missing a trick.

American Heritage
do the trick
  • to bring about the desired result
Webster's New World
not miss a trick
  • to be very alert
Webster's New World

Other Word Forms of Trick

Noun

Singular:
trick
Plural:
tricks

Adjective

Base Form:
trick
Superlative:
trickest

Idioms, Phrasal Verbs Related to Trick

Origin of Trick

  • Perhaps from Old Northern French trique (related to Old French trichier; French: tricher), itself possibly from Middle High German trechen (“to launch a shot at, play a trick on”), but the Old French verb more likely is derived from Vulgar Latin *triccāre, from Late Latin tricāre, from Latin trīcārī (“behave in an evasive manner, search for detours; trifle, delay”).

    From Wiktionary

  • Alternatively, perhaps from Dutch trek (“a pull, draw, trick”), from trekken (“to draw”), from Middle Dutch trekken, trēken (“to pull, place, put, move”), from Old Dutch *trekkan, *trekan (“to move, drag”), from Proto-Germanic *trakjaną, *trikaną (“to drag, scrape, pull”), from Proto-Indo-European *dreg- (“to drag, scrape”).

    From Wiktionary

  • Middle English trik from Old North French trique from trikier to deceive probably from Vulgar Latin triccāre from Latin trīcārī to play tricks from trīcae tricks

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

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