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To play mean tricks; to act shabbily. [Obs. or Prov.Eng.]

That which deceives expectation; any trick, fraud, or device that deludes and disappoint; a make-believe; delusion; imposture, humbug. "A mere sham." Bp. Stillingfleet. Believe who will the solemn sham, not I. Addison.

A trifoliate plant used as a national emblem by the Irish. The legend is that St. Patrick once plucked a leaf of it for use in illustrating the doctrine of the trinity.

Trickery; fraud; petty rapine; as, to live upon the shark. [Obs.] South. Baskin shark, Liver shark, Nurse shark, Oil shark, Sand shark, Tiger shark, etc. See under Basking, Liver, etc. See also Dogfish, Houndfish, Notidanian, and Tope. -- Gray shark, the sand shark. -- Hammer-headed shark. See Hammerhead. -- Port Ja…

Petty rapine; trick; also, seeking a livelihood by shifts and dishonest devices.

To play tricks in bargaining; to act the sharper. L'Estrange.

from one thing to another; hence, an expedient tried in difficalty; often, an evasion; a trick; a fraud. "Reduced to pitiable shifts." Macaulay. I 'll find a thousand shifts to get away. Shak. Little souls on little shifts rely. Dryden.

One who, or that which, shifts; one who plays tricks or practices artifice; a cozener. 'T was such a shifter that, if truth were known, Death was half glad when he had got him down. Milton.

To procure by petty fraud and trickery; to obtain by mean solicitation. You that never heard the call of any vocation, . . . that shirk living from others, but time from Yourselves. Bp. Rainbow.

The trick of a shopkeeper; deception. [Obs.] B. Jonson.

A trick; an artifice; an evasion. The gifts of nature are beyond all shame and shuffles. L'Estrange.

A trickish knave; one who carries on any business, especially legal business, in a mean and dishonest way. [Slang, U.S.]

To percolate, trickle, or ooze, as water through a crack. [Also written sigger, zigger, and zifhyr.] [Prov. Eng.]

ection or obliquity; perverse; dishonest; corrupt; as, sinister aims. Nimble and sinister tricks and shifts. Bacon. He scorns to undermine another's interest by any sinister or inferior arts. South. He read in their looks . . . sinister intentions directed particularly toward himself. Sir W. Scott.

any of several games or tasks, in most of which the player undertaking the game must take tricks counting in aggregate at least 61 (the counting cards being ace 11, ten 10, king 4, queen 3, jack 2). The four jacks are the best trumps, ranking club, spade, heart, diamond, and ten outranks king or queen (but when the pla…

To deceive; to cheat; to trick. [Obs.] B. Jonson.

To defeat (opponents at cards) by winning all the tricks of a deal or a hand. Hoyle. To slam to, to shut or close with a slam. "He slammed to the door." W. D. Howells.

An artful trick; sly artifice; a feat so dexterous that the manner of performance escapes observation. The world hath many subtle sleights. Latimer.

Slowness; tardiness. These cardinals trifle with me; I abhor This dilatory sloth and tricks of Rome. Shak.

To cheat, as by sliding a die; to trick. [R.] To slur men of what they fought for. Hudibras.