psych
Noun pluralpsychs (some meanings)
Formspsychs, psyching, psyched
Pluralpsychs (some meanings)
- 1To put someone, or oneself, into the frame of mind needed for a task; also psych up.
Before every exam, he paces the hallway to psych himself up.
A good warm-up playlist always psychs me up for a race.
Note
Up is the usual partner, and the object can sit on either side of it: psych yourself up, psych up the team. The past participle works as an adjective too, so to get psyched for a race is to get excited and ready for it. With out, the verb usually turns toward rattling an opponent.
- 2To intimidate someone emotionally or through psychological tactics; also psych out.
Some poker players try to psych out the whole table by betting wildly early on.
The champion psyched her opponent out with a long, silent stare before the match.
Similarintimidate, rattle, unnerve
- 3The field of psychology or psychiatry.
She majored in psych and went on to train as a counselor.
She chose psych over surgery when she applied for her medical residency.
Similarpsychology, psychiatry
Note
One clipping does duty for several long words, psychology, psychiatry, psychiatric and even psychedelic, and the context tells which is meant. As a field it takes no article, the way course names do: you take psych in your freshman year, major in psych, or choose it as a medical specialty.
- 4A psychiatric hospital, or psychiatric treatment.
She checked herself into psych after a month without sleep.
The judge sent him to psych instead of jail.
Note
Without an article it means the ward or the treatment, the way hospital talk says in surgery: locked up in psych, checked into psych. With the in front it becomes a place you can leave, as in Joanna Mazurkiewicz's line "I couldn't stay in the psych." Either way it is informal, staff and patient shorthand rather than a word for a medical record.
- 5A psychologist or a psychiatrist.
The defense hired two psychs to testify about his state of mind.
Ask the staff psych whether the patient is ready to go home.
Similarpsychologist, psychiatrist, shrink
- 6Relating to psychiatry; psychiatric.
She works nights in the psych unit at County General.
The court ordered a psych evaluation before the trial.
Similarpsychiatric
- 7Psychedelic, especially as a style of music, art, or design.
Their second album trades the folk sound for swirling psych guitars.
The poster's psych lettering is almost impossible to read.
Similarpsychedelic, trippy
Note
Mostly it is a word for music and design: a psych band, a psych album, and the genre names psych-rock and psych-folk, written with a hyphen. It is easy to misread on the page, since the psychiatric adjective has the same spelling; psych colors and a psych ward share nothing but the clipping.
Less common meanings
- 8Said right after a false statement to reveal that it was untrue and that the listener has been fooled.
I'm giving you my car for your birthday. Psych! You get the keychain.
He told his little cousin the dog could talk, then yelled "Psych!" the moment she believed him.
Similargotcha
Note
The shout comes right after the fake statement, once the listener has believed it for a moment, and takes it back; the truth usually follows at once, as in Psych! That was two dollars! It belongs to joking among friends and now sounds a little dated. Said in earnest, it would come across as mockery.
- 9Used to express sudden, happy surprise.
Psych! The store had one left in my size!
When she saw the acceptance letter, she yelled "Psych!" and hugged her dad.
Note
Here the shout carries plain delight at good news. It is easy to mix up with the teasing gotcha, which takes back a false statement; in this use nothing is taken back, and the news that follows is true. Like the gotcha, it now sounds dated.
- 10To treat someone using psychoanalysis.
Showing meanings only.
Practice
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