# cheat

Pronunciation: US say "CHEET" /t͡ʃiːt/; UK

## Verb

1. To break the rules of a game, contest, or system in order to gain an unfair advantage.
   - Simple: To break the rules so you can win or get ahead unfairly.
   - _Players who cheat in tournaments face lifetime bans._
   - _She cheated to finish the race ahead of her rivals._
2. To be unfaithful to one's spouse or partner by engaging in romantic or sexual conduct with someone else.
   - Simple: To be unfaithful to your husband, wife, or partner.
   - _Couples often separate after one partner cheats._
   - _She suspected her husband might cheat while he was abroad._
4. To deceive or trick someone, especially in order to take something from them or deny them their due.
   - Simple: To trick or fool someone, often to take something from them.
   - _The contractor cheated his clients by using cheaper materials._
   - _Swindlers cheat the elderly out of their pensions._
7. To set aside one's own diet, training, or other self-imposed rules in order to rest or indulge oneself. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: To break your own rules about dieting or training, just to relax or treat yourself.
   - _Most gym-goers cheat now and then with a favorite snack._
   - _He cheated on his strict routine the night after the marathon._
8. To escape or evade something that appeared certain or inevitable.
   - Simple: To escape or avoid something that seemed certain to happen.
   - _The survivors cheated death after days adrift at sea._
   - _Clever accounting let the firm cheat bankruptcy for another year._

## Noun

3. A person who breaks rules or acts dishonestly to gain an unfair advantage.
   - Simple: A person who breaks the rules to win or get ahead unfairly.
   - _The other players quickly branded him a cheat._
   - _Casinos use cameras to catch cheats at the tables._
5. An act of deception or fraud, or the means by which such deception is carried out.
   - Simple: A trick used to fool people or take something unfairly.
   - _Investigators exposed the elaborate cheat behind the charity._
   - _The loaded dice were a cheat designed to fleece newcomers._
6. In a video game, a concealed way to gain an unfair advantage, often unlocked by entering a special code.
   - Simple: A hidden trick in a video game that gives you an unfair advantage.
   - _Speedrunners disagree about whether using a cheat counts as a real record._
   - _The developers patched the game to disable several popular cheats._
9. A card game in which players aim to shed all the cards from their hand, frequently by lying about what they have played.
   - Simple: A card game where you try to get rid of all your cards, sometimes by lying.
   - _A noisy game of cheat broke out at the back of the bus._
   - _In cheat, calling a bluff at the right moment can saddle an opponent with the whole pile._
10. A weedy annual grass, commonly called cheatgrass, that invades rangelands and crowds out other plants.
   - Simple: A fast-spreading wild grass that grows as a weed in fields.
   - _Wildfires spread quickly where cheat has taken over the range._
   - _After the burn, cheat was the first plant to return to the slope._

## Noun

11. A coarse, low-quality bread, ranking below the finer wheaten loaves on the household table. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A kind of cheap, low-quality bread eaten long ago.
   - _The servants were given cheat while the master ate white bread._
   - _She baked cheat from the second siftings of the flour._

## Origin

**Meanings 1–2, 4, 7–8** — The verb comes from Middle English acheten, a variant of escheten, from Old French escheoiter, which came from the related noun. It displaced the native Old English beswican.
**Meanings 3, 5–6, 9–10** — The noun comes from Middle English chete, an aphetic form of eschete (property reverting to the state), from Old French eschet, escheit (that which falls to one), from the past participle of escheoir (to fall), and ultimately from Latin ex- plus cadere (to fall).
**Meaning 11** — This sense comes from Middle English chet (low-quality bread), which is of unknown origin; compare manchet.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/cheat (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).