See Also: unsupported(dictionary)
con trick(dictionary)
trick(1)(dictionary)
trick(2)(dictionary)
hat trick(dictionary)
trick 3, adjective(dictionary)
trick 2, verb(dictionary)
Trick or Treats(recipes)
confidence trick(dictionary)
trick 1, noun(dictionary)

trick(1) (iou) and unsupported (iou)


trick(1) (iou)



trick noun & adjective. LME.
[Old French trique dial. var. of triche, from trichier (mod. tricher) deceive, cheat, of unkn. origin. Cf. TREACHERY.]
A. noun.
I.
An action or scheme undertaken to fool, outwit, or deceive; a ruse, a wile. LME.
J. T. Story She also looked frightened...Just a trick to get her own way. Company Using baffling technical jargon is..an old Sales trick.
b. An optical or Other illusion. L16.
W. Horwood Was it, then, a trick of that strange light..that made Boswell's fur..brighter?
a. A clever contrivance or invention. rare. M16-E17.
b. A trinket, a bauble; in pl. (US), personal effects; US & Austral. colloq. a small or amusing person (esp. a child) or animal. M16.
A mischievous act; a prank; a practical joke. L16.
Fast Forward Our very latest joke and tricks catalogue..so you can play some wicked pranks.
b. A foolish or discreditable act. L16.
B. Schulberg You never find me going in for favors..a sucker's trick.
A clever or skilful expedient; a special technique; a knack or special way of doing something. L16.
A. G. Gardiner The trick of sawing wood is to work within your strength. S. Brett He tried all his tricks, being sarcastic..threatening (carefully) to resign. Clive James I learned the trick of carrying nothing much except hand baggage.
b. The Art or faculty of doing something cleverly or skilfully. E17.
Shakespeare Cymbeline Nature prompts them in simple..things, to prince it much Beyond the trick of others.
A feat of skill or dexterity; transf. an unusual action learned by an animal. E17.
R. Campbell Buffalo-drovers had a wonderful trick that I have seen nowhere else. A. S. Neill They must not look on baby as a show piece to..perform tricks when relatives come.
b. A robbery. Chiefly in turn a trick, commit a successful robbery. US slang. M19.
c. A voodoo spell cast on a person; an object used in casting such a spell. US dial. L19.
II.
A Fashion of dress. arch. M16.
A particular habit, way of acting; a habit; a characteristic practice, mannerism, or expression of the face or voice. L16.
B. Fussell The French trick of wrapping..meat in paper to oven-poach it. Quiller-Couch He had a trick of half-closing his eyes when he looked at anything.
Orig. Nautical, the time allotted to a sailor on duty at the helm. Now gen. (chiefly US), any spell or stint of work or on duty. M17.
A prostitute's session with a client; a prostitute's client. slang. E20.
A. Lurie A girl like you..could get at least a hundred a trick. B. Turner I doubt there's one trick in twenty who isn't a married man.
III.
Heraldry. A sketch in pen and ink of a coat of arms. Chiefly in in trick, sketched in pen and ink. L16.
IV.
The cards contributed to a single round of card-play, usu. one from each player; such a round of play; a point gained from this. L16.
Phrases & comb.: a trick worth two of that a much better plan or expedient. bag of tricks: see BAG noun. dirty trick: see DIRTY adjective. do a disappearing trick, do the disappearing trick: see DISAPPEAR. do the trick accomplish one's purpose; achieve the required result. how's tricks? colloq. how are you? miss a trick: see MISS verb1. odd trick: see ODD adjective. quick trick: see QUICK adjective & adverb. the whole bag of tricks: see BAG noun. three-card trick: see THREE adjective & noun. trick or treat (chiefly N. Amer.) a children's custom of calling at houses at Hallowe'en with the threat of pranks unless given a small gift of sweets etc. trick-or-treating (chiefly N. Amer.) the carrying out of this custom. turn a trick (a) slang (of a prostitute) have a session with a client; (b) see sense 5b above. turn the trick US = do the trick above.
b. adjective.
Intended or used to deceive or mystify or to create an illusion. L19
P. Marshall A reflection..in a trick mirror where..features appear to thicken. Time Out The Time Out 1,000 resolutely failed to fall for our trick questions.
Stylish, fancy, smart. colloq. (orig. US). M20.
Unsound, unreliable. N. Amer. colloq. M20.
Punch He had this trick knee..gave him hell.
Special collocations & comb.: trick-Cycling (a) the action of performing tricks on a bicycle; (b) slang psychiatry. trick cyclist (a) a person who performs tricks on a bicycle, esp. in a circus; (b) slang a psychiatrist. trick-frame adjective designating a facility on a Video recorder that enables frames to be quickly located, frozen, run in slow motion, etc. trick Photography Photography using various technical devices to create a visual illusion. trick wheel an auxiliary steering wheel on a ship.
trickful adjective (rare) full of tricks, tricky L18.
trickish adjective = TRICKY adjective 1, 2 E18.
trickishly adverb E19.
trickishness noun L18.
trickless adjective (chiefly Cards) having no tricks E20.

unsupported (iou)



unsupported adjective. LME.
[from UN-1 + supported pa. pple of SUPPORT verb.]
Not given backing or assistance. Also, unsubstantiated; not corroborated. Freq. foll. by by. LME.
J. Masson Her claim, unsupported by any evidence, is that Jung acted correctly. She Women friends who..had inadvertently become unsupported single working mothers.
Not physically supported or held up. M17.
P. Francis This leaves the original roof of the magma chamber unsupported, so it falls in.
Physics. Of (the decay of) a radioactive substance: not maintained at a constant level by the decay of a parent nuclide. M20.
unsupportedly adverb M19.
unsupportedness noun (rare) L19.