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trick

noun
/ˈtɹɪk/

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.

  1. derived from *dreg-✻
  2. derived from *trakjaną✻
  3. derived from trekken
  4. derived from treck
  5. derived from tricor
  6. derived from tricāre
  7. derived from *triccāre✻
  8. derived from trechen
  9. derived from trique
  10. inherited from trikke

Definitions

  1. Something designed to fool, dupe, outsmart, mislead or swindle.

    • It was just a trick to say that the house was underpriced.
    • He played a trick on his sister as April Fool's Day.

  2. A single element of a magician's (or any variety entertainer's) act

    A single element of a magician's (or any variety entertainer's) act; a magic trick.

    • And for my next trick, I will pull a wombat out of a duffel bag.

  3. An entertaining difficult physical action.

    • That's a nice skateboard, but can you do any tricks on it?
    • Yo-yo tricks involving sleeping the yo-yo (like "walking the dog" and "rocking the baby") cannot be performed in space.
  4. ›+ 20 more definitions

    1. An effective, clever or quick way of doing something.

      • tricks of the trade; what's the trick of getting this chair to fold up?

    2. Mischievous or annoying behavior

      Mischievous or annoying behavior; a prank.

      • the tricks of boys
      • They played a crude trick on the teacher.

    3. A particular habit or manner

      A particular habit or manner; a peculiarity; a trait.

      • a trick of drumming with the fingers; a trick of frowning
      • He hath a trick of Cœur de Lion's face.
      • The trick of that voice I do well remember.

    4. A knot, braid, or plait of hair.

      • I cannot tell , but it stirs me more than all your court curls , or your spangles , or your tricks

    5. A sequence in which each player plays a card and a winning play is determined.

      • I was able to take the second trick with the queen of hearts.
      • And now (as oft in some distemper'd state) / On one nice trick depends the gen'ral fate!

    6. A sex act, chiefly one performed for payment

      A sex act, chiefly one performed for payment; an act of prostitution.

      • turn a trick
      • turn tricks
      • I see your teeth flash, Jamaican honey so sweet Down where Lexington cross 47th Street. Oh, she's a big girl, she's standing six-foot three, Turning tricks for the dudes in the big city.

    7. A customer or client of a prostitute.

      • As the businessman rounded the corner, she thought, "Here comes another trick."
      • Across 110th street / Woman trying to catch a trick on the street, ooh baby / Across 110th Street / You can find it all in the street
      • Ten minutes after she got down she broke luck. A white trick in a thirty-seven Buick picked her up. I timed her. She had racehorse speed.

    8. A term of abuse.

    9. A daily period of work, especially in shift-based jobs.

      • On third trick from 12 m. to 8 am, we have W. A. White, formerly operator at Wallula, who thus far has given general satisfaction.
      • Woodside Junction—On 8 hour basis, first trick $60, second trick $60, third trick $50.
      • The Union contends that Fifer was entitled to promotion to the position of Group Leader on the third trick in the Core Room Department.

    10. A sailor's spell of work at the helm, usually two hours long.

    11. A toy

      A toy; a trifle; a plaything.

      • The vviles and guiles that vvomen vvorke, / Diſſembled vvith an outvvard ſhevv: / The tricks and toyes that in them lurke, / The Cock that treads thẽ [them] ſhall not knovv, […]

    12. A representation of arms that is drawn as an outline with labels to indicate colors.

      • Heraldic Collections of various Heralds and others, containing Arms blazoned and in trick, grants of arms, pedigrees, etc.
      • The trick […] might be meant for a lion passant or for one rampant embelif […]

    13. To fool

      To fool; to cause to believe something untrue; to deceive.

      • You tried to trick me when you said that house was underpriced.
      • I was once tricked into believing I had left my phone in the locker.

    14. To draw (as contrasted with to blazon, which is to describe in words).

      • They forget that they are in the statutes: […] there they are trick'd, they and their pedigrees.

    15. To dress

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

      • Tricking up their children in fine clothes.
      • Trick her off in air.

    16. To engage in prostitution or casual sex.

      • You trick for other people, you cheat me out of money, and then when you need a favour, you come back to me.

    17. Involving trickery or deception.

      • trick photography

    18. Able to perform tricks.

      • A trick pony

    19. Defective or unreliable.

      • a trick knee

    20. Stylish or cool.

      • Wow, your new sportscar is so trick.

The neighborhood

Derived

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 · +18 more

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at trick. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01trick02entertaining03amusing04amuse05beguile06guile07bewile08deceive

A definitional loop anchored at trick. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

8 hops · closes at trick

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA