ENGLISH
REFERENCE

trick

n. · v. · adj.
US //ˈtɹɪk// UK //tɹˈɪk// trick
  1. 1 a deception or prank (n.)
    B1 Intermediate

    something you do to fool someone, either as a joke or to be dishonest.

    an act or scheme intended to deceive or outwit someone, ranging from harmless pranks to fraudulent swindles.

    Example

    The children played a trick on their teacher by hiding her glasses.

    Example

    The email was a clever trick designed to steal passwords from unsuspecting employees by mimicking a bank's official website.
  2. 2 a clever method (n.)
    B1 Intermediate

    a quick or effective way of doing something difficult.

    a particular technique or knack that facilitates the efficient completion of a task.

    Example

    The trick to making good pasta is using plenty of salt in the water.

    Example

    Once you learn the trick of balancing the load, the heavy wheelbarrow becomes much easier to manage on uneven ground.
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  1. 3 magic or performance (n.)
    B1 Intermediate

    an entertaining action or a piece of magic that looks impossible.

    a single illusion or feat of skill performed for entertainment, such as by a magician or an acrobat.

    Example

    The magician performed a card trick that left the audience silent with wonder.

    Example

    The skateboarder spent all afternoon practicing a new trick on the half-pipe before the competition started.
  2. 4 prostitution client (n.)
    C1 Advanced Slang

    a person who pays for sex.

    a customer of a sex worker. Informal and often carries a derogatory or clinical nuance depending on the speaker.

    Example

    The police were monitoring the street to identify regular tricks in the area.

    Example

    The documentary explored the dangerous lives of women working on the streets and their interactions with various tricks.
  3. 5 nautical work shift (n.)
    C2 Proficiency Technical Nautical

    a sailor's turn to work at the wheel of a ship.

    a specific period of duty at the helm of a vessel, typically lasting two hours.

    Example

    It was his turn for a trick at the wheel during the storm.

    Example

    After a grueling two-hour trick at the helm in heavy seas, the helmsman was finally relieved by the next watch.
  4. 6 to deceive (v.)
    B1 Intermediate

    to make someone believe something that is not true.

    to deceive or outwit someone through a stratagem or artifice. Transitive; frequently used with the preposition 'into'.

    Example

    He tricked me into giving him my phone number by pretending to be a classmate.

    Example

    The salesman attempted to trick the elderly couple into signing a contract they hadn't fully read.
  5. 7 unreliable or deceptive (adj.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate

    something that is likely to fail or break, or something meant to fool you.

    tending to deceive or fail unexpectedly; often used of body parts or mechanical objects.

    Example

    Be careful on the stairs because I have a trick knee that sometimes gives out.

    Example

    The magician used a trick deck of cards to ensure he always drew the ace of spades.
Origin

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.

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