Link Centre Dictionary

cheat

UK/ˈt͡ʃiːt/ US/ˈt͡ʃʰɪi̯t/ common informal
verb (4) noun (5)

verb

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”
Synonyms
2.
3.
4.

be sexually unfaithful to one''s partner in marriage

  • “She cheats on her husband”
  • “Might her husband be wandering?”
Synonyms

noun

1.
2.
3.
4.

the act of swindling by some fraudulent scheme

  • “that book is a fraud”
Synonyms
5.

a deception for profit to yourself

Synonyms

Origin

Verb from Middle English achetan, variant of escheten, from Old French escheat, past participle of escheoir, escheoiter, from Late Latin *excadēre (“fall away, fall out”), from (Latin) ex- + cadere (“fall”). Displaced native Old English beswīcan. Noun from verb and/or Middle English chete, aphetic form of achete, escheat, eschete (“the reversion of property to the state”), from Anglo-Norman eschete and Old French eschet, escheit, escheoit (“that which falls to one”), past participle of escheoir (“to fall”) (modern French échoir), from Late Latin *excadēre (“fall away, fall out”), from (Latin) ex- + cadere (“fall”). Doublet of escheat.

Phrases

  • cheat code derived from Etymology 1 or 2
  • cheat curl derived from Etymology 1 or 2
  • cheat day derived from Etymology 1 or 2
  • cheat death derived from Etymology 1 or 2
  • cheat fate derived from Etymology 1 or 2
  • cheat grass derived from Etymology 1 or 2
  • cheat meal derived from Etymology 1 or 2
  • cheating death derived from Etymology 1 or 2

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

Entails

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.