hocus

Definition

To play a trick on, to trick (someone); to hoax; to cheat.

Etymology

Shortened from hocus-pocus. The verb is from the noun.

Example Sentences

• "1677, Poor Robin’s Visions, London: Arthur Boldero, Eighth Vision, p. 117, […] to contemplate the miseries of a poor Poetick life, or study some well laid plot to Hocus his Landlady into a further credence or belief […]"
• "HOCUS. To cheat. Hence the more modern term hoax."
• "“Well, I reckon you have lived in the country. I thought maybe you was trying to hocus me again […].”"