A Trick Is a Deception and a Round of Cards
A trick is an act of deception or a clever skill. In card games it is a specific technical term.
A trick is an act of deception, a clever technique, or in cards the set of cards played in one round. That card sense defines a whole family of games: bridge, whist, hearts and spades are *trick-taking* games, where each round is a trick and winning them is the object. The word has been used this way since the 1500s. *Trick or treat* is North American, spreading from the 1930s, and *tricks of the trade* means the practical knowledge of a craft.
- A deception. *A cheap trick.*
- A clever technique. *A useful trick.*
- A round in cards. *Win the trick.*
- Trick or treat. *Trick or treat.*
- Old French — *trique*, deceit. *The source.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | trick | A trick. |
| Plural | tricks | Tricks. |
| Verb | trick | Trick him. |
| Adjective | tricky | Tricky. |
| Agent | trickster | A trickster. |
- It was a trick of the light.Illusion.
- She won the last three tricks.Cards.
- That is the trick of it.Technique.
Trick-taking card games
- Whist — the ancestor of the family, four players in pairs
- Bridge — whist with bidding added
- Hearts — a game of avoiding certain tricks
- Spades — bidding on the number of tricks you will win
- Tarot games — the original use of the tarot deck
Old North French *trique*, a trick or deceit, from *trikier*, to deceive, from Latin *tricari*, to be evasive.
What is a trick in card games?
One round of play in which each player contributes a card. The player with the strongest card wins the trick.
How old is trick or treat?
The phrase is North American and spread from the 1930s, though the custom of house visiting at Halloween is older.