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hocus

[ hoh-kuhs ]
/ ˈhoʊ kəs /
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verb (used with object), ho·cused, ho·cus·ing or (especially British) ho·cussed, ho·cus·sing.
to play a trick on; hoax; cheat.
to stupefy with drugged liquor.
to drug (liquor).
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Origin of hocus

First recorded in 1665–75; short for hocus-pocus

Words nearby hocus

hockle, hock leg, Hockney, hockshop, Hocktide, hocus, hocus-pocus, hod, ho-dad, hod carrier, hodden
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Words related to hocus

abracadabra, artifice, cant, chant, charm, cheating, chicanery, conjuring, deceit, deception, delusion, flimflam, fraud, gibberish, hoax, humbug, imposture, incantation, jargon, juggling

How to use hocus in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for hocus

hocus
/ (ˈhəʊkəs) /
verb -cuses, -cusing, -cused, -cuses, -cussing or -cussed (tr) rare
to take in; trick
to stupefy, esp with a drug
to add a drug to (a drink)
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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