(~s, ~ing, ~ed)
Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English.
1.
A ~ is an action that is intended to deceive someone.
We are playing a ~ on a man who keeps bothering me.
N-COUNT
2.
If someone ~s you, they deceive you, often in order to make you do something.
Stephen is going to be pretty upset when he finds out how you ~ed him...
His family ~ed him into going to Pakistan, and once he was there, they took away his passport...
His real purpose is to ~ his way into your home to see what he can steal.
VERB: V n, V n into -ing/n, V way prep/adv
3.
A ~ is a clever or skilful action that someone does in order to entertain people.
He shows me card ~s.
N-COUNT
4.
A ~ is a clever way of doing something.
Tiffany revamped her sitting room with simple decorative ~s.
N-COUNT
5.
see also confidence ~ , conjuring ~ , hat-~
6.
If something does the ~, it achieves what you wanted. (INFORMAL)
Sometimes a few choice words will do the ~.
PHRASE: V inflects
7.
If someone tries every ~ in the book, they try every possible thing that they can think of in order to achieve something. (INFORMAL)
Companies are using every ~ in the book to stay one step in front of their competitors.
PHRASE: v PHR
8.
If you say that something is a ~ of the light, you mean that what you are seeing is an effect caused by the way that the light falls on things, and does not really exist in the way that it appears.
Her head appears to be on fire but that is only a ~ of the light.
PHRASE: v-link PHR
9.
If you say that someone does not miss a ~, you mean that they always know what is happening and take advantage of every situation. (INFORMAL)
PHRASE: V inflects, with brd-neg
10.
The ~s of the trade are the quick and clever ways of doing something that are known by people who regularly do a particular activity.
PHRASE: ~ inflects
11.
If you say that someone is up to their ~s or up to their old ~s, you disapprove of them because they are behaving in the dishonest or deceitful way in which they typically behave. (INFORMAL)
I have no respect for my father who, having remarried, is still up to his old ~s.
PHRASE: v-link PHR disapproval