ENGLISH
REFERENCE

cheat out of

phr. v..
B2 Upper Intermediate Oxford

phr. v.. to use dishonest or unfair methods to take something away from someone.

phr. v.. to deprive someone of a possession, right, or opportunity through deception or fraudulent means; a transitive three-part phrasal verb.


SIMPLE

The dishonest salesman tried to cheat her out of her savings.

CONTEXTUAL

He felt his business partner had cheated him out of his fair share of the profits.

COMPLEX

The investigation revealed that the corporation had systematically cheated thousands of elderly investors out of their retirement funds through a complex shell company scheme.

Particles
out of
Separability
inseparable
Pattern
cheat + object + out + of + thing
Usage

the object is the person being deceived, followed by 'of' and the thing stolen.

Teaching tip

this is a three-part phrasal verb (verb + particle + preposition); emphasize that the victim is the direct object and the stolen item follows 'of'.

Pitfall

He cheated out of me my money.He cheated me out of my money.the person being cheated must come immediately after the verb 'cheat'.

© 2026 English Reference