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Webster 1913 Edition


Cheat

Cheat

,
Noun.
[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.
Syn. – Deception; imposture; fraud; delusion; artifice; trick; swindle; deceit; guile; finesse; stratagem.

Cheat

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Cheated
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Cheating
.]
[See
Cheat
,
Noun.
,
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.
Shakespeare
2.
To beguile.
Sir W. Scott.
Syn. – To trick; cozen; gull; chouse; fool; outwit; circumvent; beguile; mislead; dupe; swindle; defraud; overreach; delude; hoodwink; deceive; bamboozle.

Cheat

,
Verb.
I.
To practice fraud or trickery;
as, to
cheat
at cards
.

Cheat

,
Noun.
[Perh. from OF.
cheté
goods, chattels.]
Wheat, or bread made from wheat.
[Obs.]
Drayton.
Their purest
cheat
,
Thrice bolted, kneaded, and subdued in paste.
Chapman.

Webster 1828 Edition


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

,
Noun.
1.
A fraud committed by deception; a trick; imposition; imposture.
2.
A person who cheats; one guilty of fraud by deceitful practices.

Definition 2024


cheat

cheat

English

Verb

cheat (third-person singular simple present cheats, present participle cheating, simple past and past participle cheated)

  1. (intransitive) To violate rules in order to gain advantage from a situation.
    My brother flunked biology because he cheated on his mid-term.
  2. (intransitive) To be unfaithful to one's spouse or partner.
    My husband cheated on me with his secretary.
  3. (transitive) To manage to avoid something even though it seemed unlikely.
    He cheated death when his car collided with a moving train.
    I feel as if I've cheated fate.
  4. (transitive) To deceive; to fool; to trick.
    My ex-wife cheated me out of $40,000.
    He cheated his way into office.
    • Shakespeare
      I am subject to a tyrant, a sorcerer, that by his cunning hath cheated me of this island.
  5. To beguile.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Sir Walter Scott to this entry?)
    • Washington Irving
      to cheat winter of its dreariness

Synonyms

Translations

Noun

cheat (plural cheats)

  1. Someone who cheats (informal: cheater).
  2. An act of deception or fraud; that which is the means of fraud or deception; a fraud; a trick; imposition; imposture.
    • Dryden
      When I consider life, 'tis all a cheat.
  3. The weed cheatgrass.
  4. A card game where the goal is to have no cards remaining in a hand, often by telling lies.
  5. (video games) A hidden means of gaining an unfair advantage in a computer game, often by entering a cheat code.

Translations

Synonyms

Derived terms

See also

Anagrams