# wile

Pronunciation: say "WYL" /waɪl/

## Noun

1. A cunning trick or scheme meant to deceive or ensnare someone; a sly, crafty maneuver.
   - Simple: A clever trick used to fool or trap someone.
   - _The fox relied on every wile it knew to lure the hens from their coop._
   - _Her sharp suspicion saw through the salesman's wiles at once._

## Verb

2. To attract or lure someone, especially through charm or trickery.
   - Simple: To attract or trick someone into doing something.
   - _Smugglers would wile unsuspecting sailors aboard with promises of easy pay._
   - _He wiled the investors into a scheme that promised impossible returns._

## Origin

From Middle English wile, drawn from Old Northern French wile ("guile") and Old English wīl ("wile, trick") and wiġle ("divination"), going back to Proto-Germanic roots meaning "craft, deceit" and "prophecy". It is a doublet of "guile".

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