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
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 Stories by English Authors: Scotland (Selected by Scribners) by J. M. (James Matthew) Barrie
It is a strange cantrip, Mary," said the General; "I suppose you'll be going to give him something.
From Gilian The Dreamer His Fancy, His Love and Adventure by Neil Munro
Well, this sort of cantrip was 'common form,' as we say at the Bar, in Hollond's Space, and he was very curious about the why and wherefore of Sleep.
From The Moon Endureth: Tales and Fancies by John Buchan
It would have been the daft but likeable cantrip I should have forgiven in any boy of mine; it would have shown some sign of a sogerly emprise.
From Gilian The Dreamer His Fancy, His Love and Adventure by Neil Munro
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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.
