trick

American  

[trik] / trɪk /

noun

• tricks
  plural

1. a crafty or underhanded device, maneuver, stratagem, or the like, intended to deceive or cheat; artifice; ruse; wile.

   Synonyms:

   deception

2. an optical illusion.

   It must have been some visual trick caused by the flickering candlelight.

3. a roguish or mischievous act; practical joke; prank.

   She likes to play tricks on her friends.

4. a mean, foolish, or childish action.

5. a clever or ingenious device or expedient; adroit technique.

   the tricks of the trade.

6. the art or knack of doing something skillfully.

   You seem to have mastered the trick of making others laugh.

7. a clever or dexterous feat intended to entertain, amuse, etc..

   He taught his dog some amazing tricks.

8. a feat of magic or legerdemain.

   card tricks.

9. a behavioral peculiarity; trait; habit; mannerism.

10. a period of duty or turn; stint; tour of duty.

    I relieved the pilot after he had completed his trick at the wheel.

11. Cards.

    1. the group or set of cards played and won in one round.

    2. a point or scoring unit.

    3. a card that is a potential winner.

12. Informal. a child or young girl.

    a pretty little trick.

13. Slang.

    1. a prostitute's customer.

    2. a sexual act between a prostitute and a customer.

14. Heraldry.

    1. a preliminary sketch of a coat of arms.

    2. engraver's trick.

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adjective

1. of, pertaining to, characterized by, or involving tricks.

   trick shooting.

2. designed or used for tricks.

   a trick chair.

3. (of a joint) inclined to stiffen or weaken suddenly and unexpectedly.

   a trick shoulder.

verb (used with object)

• tricks,
  present (3rd person singular)
• tricked,
  past participle,  past
• tricking
  present participle

1. to deceive by trickery.

2. Heraldry. to indicate the tinctures of (a coat of arms) with engravers tricks.

3. to cheat or swindle (usually followed byout of ).

   to trick someone out of an inheritance.

4. to beguile by trickery (usually followed byinto ).

verb (used without object)

• tricks,
  present (3rd person singular)
• tricked,
  past participle,  past
• tricking
  present participle

1. to practice trickery or deception; cheat.

2. to play tricks; trifle (usually followed bywith ).

3. Slang. to engage in sexual acts for hire.

verb phrase

1. trick out to embellish or adorn with or as if with ornaments or other attention-getting devices.

idioms

1. do / turn the trick, to achieve the desired effect or result.

   Another turn of the pliers should do the trick.

2. turn a trick, (of a prostitute) to engage in a sexual act with a customer.

trick British  

/ trɪk /

noun

1. a deceitful, cunning, or underhand action or plan

2. 1. a mischievous, malicious, or humorous action or plan; joke

      the boys are up to their tricks again

   2. ( as modifier )

      a trick spider

3. an illusory or magical feat or device

4. a simple feat learned by an animal or person

5. an adroit or ingenious device; knack

   a trick of the trade

6. a behavioural trait, habit, or mannerism

7. a turn or round of duty or work

8. cards

   1. a batch of cards containing one from each player, usually played in turn and won by the player or side that plays the card with the highest value

   2. a card that can potentially win a trick

9. slang to be consistently unsuccessful or unlucky

10. informal to produce the right or desired result

11. slang how are you?

12. slang (of a prostitute) to gain a customer

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verb

1. to defraud, deceive, or cheat (someone), esp by means of a trick

trick More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing trick

• bag of tricks
• confidence game (trick)
• dirty tricks
• do the trick
• hat trick
• how's tricks
• not miss a trick
• teach an old dog new tricks
• that does it (the trick)
• turn a trick
• up to one's old tricks

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Synonym Usage

Trick , artifice , ruse , stratagem , wile are terms for crafty or cunning devices that are intended to deceive. Trick , the general term, refers usually to an underhanded act designed to cheat someone, but it sometimes refers merely to a pleasurable deceiving of the senses: to win by a trick. Like trick , but to a greater degree, artifice emphasizes the cleverness, ingenuity, or cunning with which the proceeding is devised: an artifice of diabolical ingenuity. Ruse and stratagem emphasize the purpose for which the trick is designed; ruse is the more general term of the two, and stratagem sometimes implies a more elaborate procedure or a military application: He gained entrance by a ruse. His stratagem gave them command of the hill. W ile emphasizes the disarming effect of the trick upon those who are deceived: His wiles charmed them into trusting him. See cheat.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• tricker
  noun
• outtrick
  verb (used with object)
• trickless
  adjective
• untricked
  adjective
• trickingly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• tricks
  plural

Participles

• tricking
  present
• tricked
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• trick
  simple
• tricks
  simple
• have tricked
  perfect
• has tricked
  perfect
• am tricking
  progressive
• are tricking
  progressive
• is tricking
  progressive
• have been tricking
  perfect progressive
• has been tricking
  perfect progressive

Past

• tricked
  simple
• had tricked
  perfect
• was tricking
  progressive
• were tricking
  progressive
• had been tricking
  perfect progressive

Future

• will trick
  simple
• will have tricked
  perfect
• will be tricking
  progressive
• will have been tricking
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of trick

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English trik (noun), from Old North French trique “deceit,” derivative of trikier “to deceive,” from Vulgar Latin triccāre (unrecorded), from Latin trīcārī “to play tricks,” derivative of trīcae “hindrances, nonsense, trifles”; alternatively, perhaps from Middle Dutch trecken “to draw, pull” (compare modern Dutch trekken; see trek ( def. ))

Explanation

A trick is a hoax or sneaky scheme. If you fool people into thinking they're donating to a good cause when you're really keeping their money, you're playing a trick on them. It's not nice to trick people. "A mean ruse" is the oldest meaning of trick, which is rooted in the Latin tricari, "be evasive." Today it's also used for less mean-spirited deceptions, including funny practical jokes and a magician's sleight-of-hand illusions, commonly called magic tricks. To trick someone is to fool them, and if you hold a trick in your hand, you're playing bridge, hearts, or another "trick-taking" card game.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

trick tricks tricked tricking

At every turn, from his appearance in the Little League World Series to junior college to the minors, Tugboat was told his magic trick wouldn’t work at the next level.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026

But when they do, it’s like watching a magic trick play out before your eyes, leaving you so stunned you’re stammering, unable to utter even a single “How?”

From Salon ● Aug. 17, 2026

I prefer Vinted because it’s easy to use and there aren’t any seller fees, but platforms like Poshmark, Depop or eBay will do the trick, too.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 11, 2026

Yet the trick of this irresistible groove is that it feels like a house party caving in on itself.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026

For an hour he questioned me, using every psychological trick that the young men of our group had drilled me in.

From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom

Some tricks to relieve stress: From the archives, yoga teacher Sara Pam Neufeld shares a workout that takes seconds—and could actually improve your quality of life.

From Slate ● Aug. 18, 2026

“Certainly altitude kind of can play tricks on your stuff,” Roberts said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026

The Secret Service dug into its playbook of tricks to protect Trump during his vulnerable final minutes in Turkey.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026

That’s due in part to new tricks like the one you received.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 4, 2026

She was in Rochester when these tricks first begun, but came to Hydesville, the little village in Central New York, where we lived and were born, shortly after.

From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock

“We tricked them by putting soccer in a comedy show,” Hunt said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 9, 2026

Still, there’s a difference between being tricked and being upsold.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 30, 2026

The iconic TV character, created for the BBC's former Noel's House Party show in the 1990s, tricked and pranked celebrities, destroyed studio sets and only spoke by screeching his name.

From BBC ● Jun. 30, 2026

They tricked image recognition systems into mistaking photographs of cats for guacamole, and found new ways of embedding inaudible Alexa commands into five-second snippets of classical music.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 17, 2026

He wasn’t sure if his eyes were being tricked or if it was real, but Derek looked thinner to him and he wondered if getting thinner was a sign of dehydration.

From "The River" by Gary Paulsen

Americans are awash in scams: phony UPS texts, AI-generated voices of loved ones in trouble, spoofed emails tricking city governments.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026

In his plea agreement, he admitted to tricking and defrauding at least 25 people into paying him at least $152,476.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 16, 2026

But while Carlini’s work had debunked many claims made by AI developers, he had focused on the threat of bad people tricking artificial intelligence systems into making mistakes, not on hackers harnessing them for superpowers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 17, 2026

Instead, recent attacks relied on phishing -- tricking users into handing over access to their accounts.

From Barron's ● Apr. 25, 2026

Most Ravenclaws seemed to think that he had been desperate to earn himself a bit more fame by tricking the goblet into accepting his name.

From "Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire" by J. K. Rowling

Related Words

• conspiracy
• deception
• device
• distortion
• fraud
• gimmick
• hoax
• illusion
• maneuver
• plot
• ploy
• ruse
• trap