trick

TRIK/tɹɪk/

Pluraltricks

Verbtricks, tricking, tricked

Adjectivetricker, trickest

22 meanings of trick

Practice

1
deceptionnouncountable
A scheme or device intended to fool, outsmart, or swindle someone.
The scammer's oldest trick is pretending to call from your bank.
What looked like a generous offer was really a trick to collect their bank details.
UsageThe usual verb is play: play a trick on someone. You can also fall for a trick.
Similarploy, ruse, scam, con, scheme
Note
What separates this from the prank is intent: the aim here is to mislead or to gain, not merely to tease.
2
clever methodnouncountable
A clever or efficient method for accomplishing something.
The chef shared a handy trick for keeping avocados from browning.
Learning a few keyboard shortcuts is the trick to working faster.
UsageSay the trick to or the trick of doing something, or a trick for a task; also tricks of the trade.
Similartip, technique, secret, key, knack
Note
Here the cleverness is a knack, not a deception aimed at anyone. The Economist in 2013 wrote of bacteria and fungi that "manage this trick" of feeding on plastic.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
The Economist used the exact words “manage this trick” in 2013 about bacteria and fungi obtaining energy from plastic. en.wiktionary.org
The quotation specifically describes bacteria and fungi performing the stated feat. en.wiktionary.org
3
fool someoneverbtransitive
To cause someone to believe something untrue; to deceive or fool.
The scammer tricked elderly residents into handing over their savings.
She tried to trick the guard into opening the gate.
UsageMost often trick someone into doing something; also trick someone out of their money.
Similardeceive, fool, con, dupe, hoodwink
4
magic actnouncountable
A single feat in a magician's or entertainer's act, designed to amaze through apparent impossibility.
The audience gasped when his final trick revealed the missing ring.
Every trick in her routine relied on careful misdirection.
UsagePeople do or perform a trick; common kinds are card tricks and magic tricks.
Similarillusion
5
stuntnouncountable
A difficult physical feat performed for entertainment, as in skateboarding, gymnastics, or stunt work.
The snowboarder nailed a spinning trick off the final jump.
Each trick in the BMX routine drew louder cheers.
UsageSkaters and riders land or pull off a trick.
Similarstunt, move, feat
6
pranknouncountable
A mischievous act played on someone to annoy or fool them for fun; a prank.
Their Halloween trick left toilet paper draped across the whole yard.
He pulled a classic trick by setting all the clocks an hour ahead.
UsageUsually play a trick on someone. On Halloween, children say trick or treat.
Similarprank, joke, gag, hoax
7
adjective
Designed to deceive or mislead; involving trickery.
The exam included several trick questions worded to catch careless readers.
His seemingly simple offer hid a trick clause in the contract.
UsageUsed before a noun: a trick question, trick photography.
Similarmisleading, deceptive
Oppositestraightforward
8
card gamenouncountable
In card games, a round in which each player lays down one card, and one play wins the group of cards according to the rules.
The declarer needed to win every trick to make the contract.
He carefully counted the tricks his side had taken.
UsagePlayers take or win a trick.
Note
The expanded 1714 version of Alexander Pope's The Rape of the Lock stages a card game in which everything hangs on a single play: "On one nice trick depends the gen'ral fate."
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
Alexander Pope wrote The Rape of the Lock, whose expanded version first appeared in 1714. gutenberg.org
The poem depicts a card game reaching a decisive trick. eighteenthcenturypoetry.org

Less common meanings

9
verbtransitive
To dress, decorate, or adorn in an elaborate or showy manner, often with up, off, or out.
Performers trick themselves out in feathers and sequins for the parade.
He tricked up the old car with chrome and bright paint.
UsageUsually trick out or trick up, most often as tricked out; it can hint at too much show.
Similardeck, adorn, decorate, bedeck
Note
Locke wrote of "tricking up their children in fine clothes" in 1693. Macaulay, in his 1825 essay on Milton, praised poems "as little tricked out for the public eye as his diary."
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
Locke wrote the quoted phrase about dressing children in fine clothes. oll-resources.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com
The Locke work containing the phrase was first published in 1693. en.wikipedia.org
Macaulay's essay on Milton was published in 1825. gutenberg.org
Macaulay praised Milton's poems using the quoted words. gutenberg.org
10
unreliableadjective
Liable to fail or give way unexpectedly; defective or unreliable.
His trick knee buckled halfway through the hike.
My trick knee always acts up before it rains.
UsageMostly in a trick knee, sometimes a trick shoulder or ankle.
Similarunreliable, faulty, weak, bad, dodgy
Oppositereliable, sound
11
performingadjective
Trained or able to perform tricks, as a show animal.
The fair featured a trick horse that bowed to the crowd.
A trick dog stole the show with its backflips.
Similartrained
12
personal habitnoundatedcountable
A characteristic habit, mannerism, or peculiarity of a person.
He had an odd trick of clearing his throat before every sentence.
He hath a trick of Cœur de Lion's face.
c. 1596, William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Iohn”
UsageUsually a trick of + -ing form: a trick of tapping his pen.
Similarhabit, mannerism, quirk, peculiarity, tic
Note
Shakespeare used it this way: in King John someone "hath a trick of Cœur de Lion's face," and in King Lear, "The trick of that voice I do well remember."
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
Shakespeare's King John contains the quoted wording, spoken by Queen Eleanor about Philip Faulconbridge in Act 1, scene 1. folger.edu
Shakespeare's King Lear contains this exact sentence, spoken by Gloucester in Act 4, scene 6. folger.edu
13
nounslangcountable
In slang, a sex act performed for payment; an instance of prostitution.
She turned a few tricks to cover the week's expenses.
The arrangement was simple: one trick, cash up front.
UsageUsually with turn: turn a trick, turn tricks.
Note
In Bobby Womack's "Across 110th Street" (1972), a woman is trying to catch a trick, and there the word slides toward the paying customer. The act and the client share one name, and context tells them apart.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
“Across 110th Street” is a Bobby Womack song. en.wikipedia.org
The song dates to 1972; its separate single release followed in 1973. esm.rochester.edu
The lyric describes a woman trying to catch a trick; its placement under the customer sense supports the note’s interpretation. en.wiktionary.org
14
prostitute's clientnounslangcountable
A prostitute's customer or client.
She turned away when a trick pulled up to the curb.
The trick paid in cash and left before dawn.
Similarjohn, punter, score
Note
The same slang turned toward the customer: here the trick is the person paying, not the paid act. Iceberg Slim's Pimp: The Story of My Life uses it in the trade's own voice: "A white trick in a thirty-seven Buick picked her up."
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
Iceberg Slim wrote Pimp: The Story of My Life. en.wikipedia.org
The quoted sentence appears in Pimp: The Story of My Life, with the wording given. en.wiktionary.org
15
sell sexverbslangintransitive
To work as a prostitute, or to engage in casual sex.
Younger runaways often trick just to survive.
She tricked along the boulevard most nights.
Note
The verb made from the paid sex act is used without an object: one simply tricks. Its reach is wider than the noun's and covers casual sex with no money involved. Betsy Duren's 1985 report records a speaker being asked whether lesbians might trick outside a relationship, with the word still fenced off in inverted commas.
16
cooladjectiveslangUS
Impressively stylish or cool.
He put some really trick wheels on his old car.
He showed up in a trick new outfit.
UsageOften after so or really: those wheels are so trick.
Similarcool, slick, sharp, stylish, sweet
17
nasty personnounslangderogatorycountable
A contemptible person, used as a term of abuse.
Tell that trick he's not welcome at this party anymore.
He called his rival a trick and stormed off.
Similarjerk, creep, loser, lowlife
Note
Vulgar slang aimed at a person, and the word itself does not specify what the insult accuses them of. It belongs to the same slang vocabulary as a prostitute's client.
18
nouncountable
A spell of work or duty, such as a shift in a job organized around shifts, or a sailor's turn at the helm, usually lasting two hours.
Her trick at the wheel ended at midnight.
The sailor took his trick at the wheel from midnight to two.
Similarshift, turn, spell, stint
Note
At sea the turn of duty narrows to steering: a spell at the helm, usually two hours long, during which one sailor holds the wheel. Ashore the same word can name a whole shift in a job organized around shifts. John Masefield's "Sea Fever" (1902) draws on this seafaring vocabulary.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
A sailor's turn at the helm usually lasts two hours. en.wiktionary.org
John Masefield wrote "Sea Fever". rpo.library.utoronto.ca
"Sea Fever" was first published in 1902. ledburytowncouncil.gov.uk
"Sea Fever" uses "trick" as seafaring vocabulary. ledburytowncouncil.gov.uk
19
nounobsolete
A trinket or other trifling object kept for play or amusement.
Note
An obsolete sense, best read in old verse rather than used: a trinket or plaything of little worth. Older verse often pairs trick with toy, though beside words like wiles and guiles the pair means ruses instead, as in The Passionate Pilgrim of 1599.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
Trick has an obsolete sense meaning a toy, trifle, or plaything. en.wiktionary.org
The Passionate Pilgrim was published in 1599. shakespearedocumented.folger.edu
20
nounobsolete
A length of hair that has been knotted, braided, or plaited.
I cannot tell , but it stirs me more than all your court curls , or your spangles , or your tricks
1601, Ben Jonson, Poetaster or The Arraignment
21
noun
A drawing of a coat of arms made as an outline, with written labels marking the colors.
22
verb
To draw armorial bearings in outline, as distinct from blazoning, which describes them in words.

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of trick apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origin

Middle English had trikke, taken from Old Northern French trique, a relative of Old French trichier ("to defraud, deceive, cheat"). Where the French word came from is uncertain. One possibility is Middle High German trechen ("to play a trick on"). Another is that the French verb derives from Latin trīcārī ("to dodge, quibble, haggle"), and some have also connected it to Middle Dutch treck ("a draw, stratagem, ruse").