trick

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“
said Henderson, starting up in bed; but the child could only continue his screams, and Henderson, springing out of bed stumbled against the string, and instantly (for the trick was a familiar one) knew what was being done.

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Definitions (63)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (27)

  1. noun An act or procedure intended to achieve an end by deceptive or fraudulent means. See Synonyms at wile.
  2. noun A mischievous action; a prank.
  3. noun A stupid, disgraceful, or childish act or performance.
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Examples (50)

  • Those who have seen this trick are aware that it is chiefly intended to produce a laugh, and that the object borrowed runs no risk. —  Memoirs of Robert-Houdin
  • But the greek has spent the night in undoing the bands and sealing them up again by a process known to conjurers; the cards have been all marked and properly arranged, and as the tradesman has them now in his shop, the trick is accomplished. —  Memoirs of Robert-Houdin
  • I was delighted at this precaution, which must add to the effect of my experiment, for the trick was already arranged, and the precaution hence too late. —  Memoirs of Robert-Houdin
  • This trick is a little hacky, but it gets the job done on busy Finder sidebars. —  doggdot.us
  • There's quite a lot of documented phenological change data at all scales; the trick is attributing the climate changes at smaller scales to global AGW, which necessarily requires GCMs, which have the ability to model across scales (down to the limit of their spatial resolution). —  RealClimate
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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

joke ·  habit ·  game ·  lie ·  art ·  device ·  stuff ·  skill ·  scheme ·  notion ·  mistake ·  fashion

Used in the same contextWord Family

trick:   tricks ·  tricked
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (5)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. 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.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (4)

  1. (a) Prob. an altered form, reverting to the orig. unassibilated form, of trich (modern English prop, spelled tritch), from Middle English trichen), tricchen (also perhaps unassibilated *tricken), from Old French tricher, trichier, trechier (also perhaps unassibilated *triquer, *tricquer), deceive, trick (cf. Provencal tric, deceit), = Italian treccare, cheat, from Latin tricari, Middle Latin also tricare, trifle, act deceitfully, from tricæ, trifles, toys (see trich, treacher, treachery; cf. trick, n., in the sense of ‘trifle, toy’); (b) the word, as a noun, being appar, influenced by, if not in part derived from, Middle Dutch treck, Dutch trek, a trick (een slimme trek, a cunning trick, jemand eenen trek speelen, play one a trick, etc.), a word not having the orig. meaning of ‘trick’ or ‘deceit,’ but a particular use of Middle Dutch treck, Dutch trek, a pull, draft, tug, line, from Middle Dutch trecken, Dutch trekken, draw: see trick, and cf. track. Of. F. trigaud, crafty, artful, cunning, trigauderie, a sly trick. The words spelled trick have been confused in popular apprehension and in the dictionaries, and the senses are entangled. See trick, trick, trick.
  2. from trick, v.; prob. in part from Middle Dutch treck, Dutch trek, a trick, a pull, draft, etc.: see trick, v., and cf. track.
  3. Prob. another use of trick, v., as derived from the noun in the sense ‘a dexterous artifice,’ or ‘a touch.’ Cf. also trick. According to some, from Welsh treciaw, furnish or harness, trick out, from trec, an implement, harness, gear.
  4. from Middle Dutch trecken, Dutch trekken, pull, draw lines, delineate, sketch, = OFries. trekka, tregga, North Fries, trecke, tracke = Low German trekken = Middle High German trecken = Danish trække, draw; a causal form of Old High German trehhan, Middle High German trecken, pull, push, shove. From the same source are ult. English track, and tricker, now trigger. Cf. also trek and trick. This verb seems to have been confused with trick, deck; cf. trickment.
 

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/trɪk/
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