trick Meaning, Definition & Usage

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

WordNet

Trick noun
Etymology
D. trek a pull, or drawing, a trick, trekken to draw; akin to LG. trekken, MHG. trecken, trechen, Dan. trække, and OFries. trekka. Cf. Track, Trachery, Trig, a., Trigger.
Definitions
  1. An artifice or stratagem; a cunning contrivance; a sly procedure, usually with a dishonest intent; as, a trick in trade.
    He comes to me for counsel, and I show him a trick. South.
    I know a trick worth two of that. Shak.
  2. A sly, dexterous, or ingenious procedure fitted to puzzle or amuse; as, a bear's tricks; a juggler's tricks.
  3. Mischievous or annoying behavior; a prank; as, the tricks of boys. Prior.
  4. A particular habit or manner; a peculiarity; a trait; as, a trick of drumming with the fingers; a trick of frowning.
    The trick of that voice I do well remember. Shak.
    He hath a trick of C&oe;ur de Lion's face. Shak.
  5. A knot, braid, or plait of hair. Obs. B. Jonson.
  6. (Card Playing) The whole number of cards played in one round, and consisting of as many cards as there are players. in games such as bridge, in which one side takes the trick, to its advantage.
    On one nice trick depends the general fate. Pope.
  7. (Naut.) A turn; specifically, the spell of a sailor at the helm, -- usually two hours.
  8. A toy; a trifle; a plaything. Obs. Shak. Syn. -- Stratagem; wile; fraud; cheat; juggle; finesse; sleight; deception; imposture; delusion; imposition.
Trick transitive verb
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Tricked ; present participle & verbal noun Tricking
Definitions
  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 1913