trick

Etymology

Uncertain. * Perhaps from Middle English *trikke, from Old Northern French trique (related to Old French trichier (“to defraud, act dishonestly, conceal, deceive, cheat”); > modern French tricher), itself possibly from Middle High German trechen (“to launch a shot at, play a trick on”), or one of its derivatives (e.g. Middle High German ūftrechen (“to do something to someone, hurt someone”), vertrechen (“to conceal, get over on someone”), zuotrechen (“to obtain falsely or deceitfully, wangle, finagle”), etc.); yet the Old French verb is equally likely to be derived from Vulgar Latin *triccāre, from Late Latin tricāre, from Latin trīcor, trīcārī (“dodge, search for detours; haggle, quibble”). * Alternatively, perhaps from Middle Dutch treck, trec (“draw, line, desire, game move, cord, stratagem, ruse, trick”), from Middle Dutch trekken, trēken (“to pull, place, put, move”), from Old Dutch *trekken, *trekan (“to move, drag”), from Proto-Germanic *trakjaną, *trekaną (“to drag, scrape, pull”), from Proto-Indo-European *dreg- (“to drag, scrape”). If the second proposal is correct, the term is cognate with Low German trekken, Middle High German trecken, trechen, Danish trække, and Old Frisian trekka, Romanian truc and other Romance languages. Compare track, treachery, trig, and trigger.

noun

1. Something designed to fool or swindle.
   It was just a trick to say that the house was underpriced.
2. A single element of a magician's (or any variety entertainer's) act; a magic trick.
   And for my next trick, I will pull a wombat out of a duffel bag.
3. An entertaining difficult physical action.
   That's a nice skateboard, but can you do any tricks on it?
   Yo-yo tricks involving sleeping the yo-yo (like "walking the dog" and "rocking the baby") cannot be performed in space. 1995, All Aboard for Space: Introducing Space to Youngsters, page 158
4. An effective, clever or quick way of doing something.
   tricks of the trade; what's the trick of getting this chair to fold up?
   Plastics are energy-rich substances, which is why many of them burn so readily. Any organism that could unlock and use that energy would do well in the Anthropocene. Terrestrial bacteria and fungi which can manage this trick are already familiar to experts in the field. 2013-07-20, “Welcome to the plastisphere”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845
5. Mischievous or annoying behavior; a prank.
   the tricks of boys
   They played a crude trick on the teacher.
6. (dated) A particular habit or manner; a peculiarity; a trait.
   a trick of drumming with the fingers; a trick of frowning
7. A knot, braid, or plait of hair.
8. (card games) A sequence in which each player plays a card and a winning play is determined.
   I was able to take the second trick with the queen of hearts.
   And now (as oft in some distemper'd state) / On one nice trick depends the gen'ral fate! 1712, Alexander Pope, “Canto III”, in The Rape of the Lock, lines 93–94; republished in The Complete Poetical Works of Alexander Pope, Boston, New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1902, page 94
9. (slang) A sex act, chiefly one performed for payment; an act of prostitution.
   turn a trick
   turn tricks
   Perhaps the most important thing a prostitute learns is how to "manage" the client; how to con him into spending more money than he planned. Learning how to perform tricks takes only a few minutes. Learning how to "hustle" the client takes longer. 1988, John H. Lindquist, Misdemeanor Crime: Trivial Criminal Pursuit, page 43
   "How did you get into all this?" "I started doing tricks when I was young and I don't mean the magic circle. I learned about sex from an early age. There was nothing else to do in Pitsea except heavy petting and getting F grades at school." 2010, Richard Gill, Paloma Azul, page 139
   When he later asked her to strip and perform tricks for him, she refused, and he chased her away. She had similar experiences with other men until she eventually fell into prostitution: […] 2019, Julie S. Draskoczy, Belomor: Criminality and Creativity in Stalin’s Gulag
10. (slang) A customer or client of a prostitute.
    As the businessman rounded the corner, she thought, "Here comes another trick."
    Ten minutes after she got down she broke luck. A white trick in a thirty-seven Buick picked her up. I timed her. She had racehorse speed. 2011, Iceberg Slim, Pimp: The Story of My Life, page 99
11. (slang, vulgar) A term of abuse.
12. A daily period of work, especially in shift-based jobs.
    On third trick from 12 m. to 8 am, we have W. A. White, formerly operator at Wallula, who thus far has given general satisfaction. 1885, Order of Railway Conductors and Brakemen, The Conductor and Brakeman, page 496
    Woodside Junction—On 8 hour basis, first trick $60, second trick $60, third trick $50. 1899, New York (State), Bureau of Statistics, Deptartment of Labor, Annual Report
    The Union contends that Fifer was entitled to promotion to the position of Group Leader on the third trick in the Core Room Department. 1949, Labor arbitration reports, page 738
13. (nautical) A sailor's spell of work at the helm, usually two hours long.
    I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life, To the gull's way and the whale's way, where the wind's like a whetted knife; And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover, And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over. 1902, John Masefield, Sea Fever
14. A toy; a trifle; a plaything.

verb

1. (transitive) To fool; to cause to believe something untrue; to deceive.
   You tried to trick me when you said that house was underpriced.
2. (heraldry) To draw (as contrasted with to blazon, which is to describe in words).
3. To dress; to decorate; to adorn fantastically; often followed by up, off, or out.
   Trick her off in air. 1735, Alexander Pope, Of the Characters of Women
   They are simple, but majestic, records of the feelings of the poet; as little tricked out for the public eye as his diary would have been. 1825, Thomas Macaulay, An Essay on John Milton
4. To engage in prostitution or casual sex.
   1977-1980, Lou Sullivan, personal diary, quoted in 2019, Ellis Martin, Zach Ozma (editors), We Both Laughed In Pleasure […] and suddenly it was Maryellin, he & I in the bed. The guy was tall, lean & hard. Absolutely lovely body. For me, it was like my old tricking days.

adj

1. Involving trickery or deception.
   trick photography
2. Able to perform tricks.
   A trick pony
3. Defective or unreliable.
   a trick knee
4. (chiefly US, slang) Stylish or cool.
   Wow, your new sportscar is so trick.