cantrip
Americannoun
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Chiefly Scot. a magic spell; trick by sorcery.
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Chiefly British. artful shamming meant to deceive.
noun
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a magic spell
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(often plural) a mischievous trick
adjective
Etymology
Origin of cantrip
1710–20; apparently dissimilated variant of Old English calcatrippe; see caltrop
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
To fellow brokers downstairs on the floor of the Stock Exchange he had merely whispered the compelling cantrip of the bulls: "I've got a good thing!"
From Time Magazine Archive
By some "cantrip slight," it had no doubt brought her there to be ready in case of accidents, and it now left her to be caught in its stead.
From Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland Volume 11 by John Mackay Wilson
For, by what cantrip it wad ill beseem a man to judge, she was hingin’ frae a single nail an’ by a single wursted thread for darnin’ hose.
From The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. 5 (of 25) by Robert Louis Stevenson
Then, with cantrip kisses seven, Three times round with kisses seven, Warp'd and woven there spun we Arms and legs and flaming hair, Like a whirlwind on the sea.
From Bulchevy's Book of English Verse by Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch
And that old witch, Eliza— I little guessed she’d play this cantrip on me: But what a jest—Jerusalem, what a jest!
From Krindlesyke by Wilfrid Wilson Gibson
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
