Cheat CHEAT, v.t. 1. To deceive and defraud in a bargain; to deceive
for the purpose of gain in selling. Its proper application is to commerce,
in which a person uses some arts, or misrepresentations, or withholds
some facts, by which he deceives the purchaser. 2. To deceive by any
artifice, trick or device, with a view to gain an advantage contrary to
common honesty; as, to cheat a person at cards. 3. To impose on;
to trick. It is followed by of or out of, and colloquially by into,
as to cheat a child into a belief that a medicine is palatable. CHEAT, n. 1. A fraud committed by deception; a trick;
imposition; imposture. 2. A person who cheats; one guilty of fraud
by deceitful practices.
cheat
n 1: weedy annual grass often occurs in grainfields and other
cultivated land; seeds sometimes considered poisonous [syn:
darnel, tare, bearded darnel, cheat, Lolium
temulentum}]
2: weedy annual native to Europe but widely distributed as a
weed especially in wheat [syn: chess, cheat, Bromus
secalinus}]
3: someone who leads you to believe something that is not true
[syn: deceiver, cheat, cheater, trickster,
beguiler, slicker]
4: the act of swindling by some fraudulent scheme; "that book is
a fraud" [syn: swindle, cheat, rig]
5: a deception for profit to yourself [syn: cheat, cheating]
v 1: deprive somebody of something by deceit; "The con-man beat
me out of $50"; "This salesman ripped us off!"; "we were
cheated by their clever-sounding scheme"; "They chiseled me
out of my money" [syn: cheat, rip off, chisel]
2: defeat someone through trickery or deceit [syn: cheat,
chouse, shaft, screw, chicane, jockey]
3: engage in deceitful behavior; practice trickery or fraud;
"Who's chiseling on the side?" [syn: cheat, chisel]
4: be sexually unfaithful to one's partner in marriage; "She
cheats on her husband"; "Might her husband be wandering?"
[syn: cheat on, cheat, cuckold, betray, wander]
cheat I. verbEtymology:2cheatDate: 1590 transitive
verb1. to deprive of something valuable by the use of deceit or fraud
2. to influence or lead by deceit, trick, or artifice 3.
to elude or thwart by or as if by outwitting <cheat death>
intransitive verb1.a. to practice fraud or trickery b. to violate rules
dishonestly <cheat at cards> <cheating
on a test>
2. to be sexually unfaithful — usually used with on <was
cheating on his wife> 3. to position oneself
defensively near a particular area in anticipation of a play in that area
<the shortstop was cheating toward second base>
• cheaternoun Synonyms:cheat, cozen, defraud, swindle mean to get something by dishonesty
or deception. cheat suggests using trickery that escapes observation
<cheated me out of a dollar>. cozen implies artful persuading
or flattering to attain a thing or a purpose <always able to cozen
her grandfather out of a few dollars>. defraud stresses depriving
one of his or her rights and usually connotes deliberate perversion
of the truth <defrauded of her inheritance by an unscrupulous
lawyer>. swindle implies large-scale cheating by misrepresentation or
abuse of confidence <swindled of their savings by con artists>.
II. nounEtymology: earlier cheat forfeited property, from Middle
English chet escheat, short for eschete — more at escheatDate: 1615 1. the act or an instance of fraudulently deceiving
;deception, fraud2. one that cheats ;pretender,
deceiver 3. [probably from a deceptive resemblance to grain]
a.chess 1 b.cheatgrass4. the obtaining of property from another by an intentional active
distortion of the truth
cheat v. & n. --v. 1 tr. a (often foll. by into, out of) deceive or trick (cheated into parting with his savings). b (foll. by of) deprive of (cheated of a chance to reply). 2 intr. gain
unfair advantage by deception or breaking rules, esp. in a game or examination. 3 tr. avoid (something undesirable) by luck or skill (cheated the bad weather). 4 tr. archaic divert attention
from, beguile (time, tedium, etc.). --n. 1 a person who cheats. 2 a trick, fraud, or deception. 3 an act of cheating. Phrases and idioms: cheat on colloq. be sexually
unfaithful to. Derivatives: cheatingly adv. Etymology: ME chete f. achete, var. of ESCHEAT
cheat
(cheats, cheating, cheated)
1. When someone cheats, they do not obey a set of rules which they should be obeying,
for example in a game or exam.
Students may be tempted to cheat in order to get into top schools.VERB: V
• cheatingIn an election in 1988, he was accused of cheating by his opponent.N-UNCOUNT
2. Someone who is a cheat does not obey a set of rules which they should be obeying.
Cheats will be disqualified.N-COUNT
3. If someone cheats you out of something, they get it from you by behaving
dishonestly.
The company engaged in a deliberate effort to cheat them out of their pensions...Many brokers were charged with cheating customers in commodity trades.VERB: V n out of/of n, V n
4. If you say that someone cheats death, you mean they only just avoid being
killed. (JOURNALISM)
He cheated death when he was rescued from the roof of his blazing cottage.PHRASE: V inflects
cheat
tʃi:t v. & n. --v. 1 tr. a (often foll. by into, out of) deceive
or trick (cheated into parting with his savings). b (foll. by of) deprive of
(cheated of a chance to reply). 2 intr. gain unfair advantage by deception
or breaking rules, esp. in a game or examination. 3 tr. avoid (something
undesirable) by luck or skill (cheated the bad weather). 4 tr. archaic
divert attention from, beguile (time, tedium, etc.). --n. 1 a person who
cheats. 2 a trick, fraud, or deception. 3 an act of cheating. øcheat on
colloq. be sexually unfaithful to. øøcheatingly adv. [ME chete f. achete,
var. of ESCHEAT]
Cheat \Cheat\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Cheated; p. pr. & vb. n.
Cheating.] [See Cheat, n., Escheat.]
1. To deceive and defraud; to impose upon; to trick; to
swindle.
I am subject to a tyrant, a sorcerer, that by his
cunning hath cheated me of this island. --Shak.
2. To beguile. --Sir W. Scott.
To cheat winter of its dreariness. --W. Irving.
Syn: To trick; cozen; gull; chouse; fool; outwit; circumvent;
beguile; mislead; dupe; swindle; defraud; overreach;
delude; hoodwink; deceive; bamboozle.
Cheat \Cheat\, n. [rob. an abbrevation of escheat, lands or
tenements that fall to a lord or to the state by forfeiture,
or by the death of the tenant without heirs; the meaning
being explained by the frauds, real or supposed, that were
resorted to in procuring escheats. See Escheat.]
1. An act of deception or fraud; that which is the means of
fraud or deception; a fraud; a trick; imposition;
imposture.
When I consider life, 'tis all a cheat. --Dryden.
2. One who cheats or deceives; an impostor; a deceiver; a
cheater.
Airy wonders, which cheats interpret. --Johnson
3. (Bot.) A troublesome grass, growing as a weed in grain
fields; -- called also chess. See Chess.
4. (Law) The obtaining of property from another by an
intentional active distortion of the truth.
Note: When cheats are effected by deceitful or illegal
symbols or tokens which may affect the public at large
and against which common prudence could not have
guarded, they are indictable at common law. --Wharton.
Syn: Deception; imposture; fraud; delusion; artifice; trick;
swindle; deceit; guile; finesse; stratagem.
Cheat \Cheat\, n. [Perh. from OF. chet['e] goods, chattels.]
Wheat, or bread made from wheat. [Obs.] --Drayton.
Their purest cheat, Thrice bolted, kneaded, and subdued
in paste. --Chapman.
Chess \Chess\, n. (Bot.)
A species of brome grass ({Bromus secalinus}) which is a
troublesome weed in wheat fields, and is often erroneously
regarded as degenerate or changed wheat; it bears a very
slight resemblance to oats, and if reaped and ground up with
wheat, so as to be used for food, is said to produce narcotic
effects; -- called also cheat and Willard's bromus. [U.
S.]
Note: Other species of brome grass are called upright chess,
soft chess, etc.
cheat
tʃi:t n.
1 swindler, deceiver, impostor, fraud, faker, fake, swindler, trickster, confidence
man, con man, operator, charlatan, mountebank, rogue, shark, Colloq phoney or US also phony,
US snake-oil artist: It is amazing how many cheats are out there waiting to take advantage of
you. --v.
2 swindle, deceive, bilk, trick, con, take, fleece, defraud, euchre, hoax, hoodwink,
Colloq con, take in, rook, flimflam, finagle, diddle, fiddle, move the goalposts, bamboozle,
take for a ride; Slang rip off: His own solicitor cheated him out of his inheritance. If you
paid ten pounds for that painting, you were cheated.
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