trick

I UK [trɪk] / US noun [countable]
Word forms "trick":
singular trick plural tricks
**

1)

a) an unfair or unpleasant thing that you do in order to harm someone or to get an advantage for yourself

a dirty/cruel/nasty trick:

It was a very dirty trick to play on anyone.

a dirty tricks campaign:

They had carried out a dirty tricks campaign against a rival airline.

b) something that you do in order to annoy someone or to make people laugh at them, often by making them believe something that is not true

play a trick on someone:

I thought he was playing a trick on me.

your eyes are/your memory is playing tricks on you:

Was it her, or were my eyes playing tricks on me?

2) a way of entertaining people by doing something that looks like magic

For my next trick, I will make the balls disappear.

do a trick:

He does this great trick with a hat and two rabbits.

3) something that is not really what it seems to be

Could she really see a boat, or was it just a trick of the light?

4) an effective and skilful way of doing something

There's a trick to folding up this umbrella.

the trick is:

If you want to see her, the trick is to go early.

5) the cards that you play or win in one part of a card game

•

a bag/box of tricks — all of the special or secret methods that someone has to help them to achieve something

He's familiar with all of an actor's bag of tricks.

how's tricks? — informal used when you meet someone to ask how they are

show/teach someone a trick or two — used for saying that you know a lot more about something than someone else does

Ted's been working here for years – he could show most of us a trick or two.

try/use every trick in the book — to try or to use every possible method in order to achieve something

He tried every trick in the book to persuade her, but she still said no.

up to your old/usual tricks — to be doing the same annoying or bad things that you usually do

I see John is up to his old tricks bossing everyone around.

- do the trick

- have a trick of doing something

- have a trick up your sleeve

- the oldest trick in the book

- the tricks of the trade

- turn a trick

See:

miss I, teach

II UK [trɪk] / US verb [transitive]
Word forms "trick":
present tense I/you/we/they trick he/she/it tricks present participle tricking past tense tricked past participle tricked
*

to make someone believe something that is not true

I suddenly realized that I'd been tricked.

trick someone into doing something:

He tricked me into believing that he was somebody famous.

trick someone out of something:

You're not the first person to be tricked out of your savings.

Phrasal verbs:

- trick out

See:

trick or treat

III UK [trɪk] / US adjective [only before noun]

1) used for tricking someone

a trick question

2) American used about a part of the body that is weak and that does not work the way it should

a trick knee