cheat

An act of deception or fraud; that which is the means of fraud or deception.

Noun

  1. An act of deception or fraud; that which is the means of fraud or deception.
    • When I consider life, 'tis all a cheat. - 1675, John Dryden, Aureng-zebe: A Tragedy. […], London: […] T[homas] N[ewcomb] for Henry Herringman, […], published 1676, →OCLC, (please specify the page number):

    Synonyms: fraud trick imposition imposture

  2. Someone who cheats.
    • And he smote Corinius on his shaven jowl with the dice box, calling him cheat and mangy rascal, whereupon Corinius drew forth a bodkin to smite him in the neck withal; but some went betwixt them, and with much ado and...
    • The caseworker couldn't understand how I could have stretched out my last bit of money for so long. She seemed convinced that I was "hiding" income from her and interrogated me for I don't know how long […] The system...

    Synonyms: cheater bandit

  3. The weed cheatgrass.
  4. A card game where the goal is to have no cards remaining in a hand, often by telling lies.

    Synonyms: bullshit BS I doubt it

  5. A hidden means of gaining an unfair advantage in a video game, often by entering a cheat code.
    • I've had a number of requests for a cheat for Turrican the first. Yes, there is a keypress built in […] - 1992 January, Phil Howard, “Cheat Mode”, in Amstrad Action, number 76, page 32:
    • Unpause the game, then repause the game and enter any of the following cheats: […] - 1998, GamePro Issue 109 August 1998, page 141:

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.

Forms

cheats

Derived

anticheat becheat cheatable cheat-bread cheat code cheat curl cheat day cheat death cheatee cheater cheatery cheat fate cheat grass cheating cheating death cheatless cheatlike cheatline cheat meal cheat on cheat out cheat out of cheat sheet cheat the hangman

Noun obsolete, uncountable

  1. A sort of low-quality bread.
    • The raueled cheat therfore is generallie ſo made that out of one buſhell of meale, after two and twentie pounds of bran be ſifted and taken from it (wherevnto they ad the gurgeons that riſe from the manchet) they make...
    • Takes part with them, at ſhore: their pureſt cheat, / Thrice boulted, kneaded, and ſubdu'd in paſt[…] - c. 1624, Homer, translated by George Chapman, The crowne of all Homers workes Batrachomyomachia […] , Iohn Bill,...
    • Where by the way note, that loaves made of pure Wheaten Meal require both more Leaven and more labouring, and more baking than either coarſe Cheat or than Bread Mingled of Meal and Grudgins. - 1746, Thomas Moffett,...

Origin

Inherited from Middle English chet (“low-quality bread”), of unknown origin; compare manchet.

Verb

  1. To violate rules in order to gain, or attempt to gain, advantage from a situation.
    • My brother flunked biology because he cheated on his mid-term.
  2. To be unfaithful to one's spouse or partner; to commit adultery, or to engage in sexual or romantic conduct with a person other than one's partner in contravention of the rules of society or agreement in the relationship.
    • My husband cheated on me with his secretary.
    • After he found out his wife cheated, he left her.
    • While the nonavoidant passive-aggressive cheats for the sexual gratification and tries to disguise his or her cheating afterwards, in contrast, the passive-aggressive avoidant cheats less for the sex than to send a...

    Synonyms: step out on

  3. To avoid a seemingly inevitable thing.
    • He cheated death when his car collided with a moving train.
    • I feel as if I've cheated fate.
  4. To deceive; to fool; to trick.
    • My ex-wife cheated me out of $40,000.
    • He cheated his way into office.
    • I am subject to a tyrant, a sorcerer, that by his cunning hath cheated me of this island. - 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […]...

    Synonyms: rook blench lirt

  5. To disregard self-imposed restrictions or commitments in favour of resting or indulging oneself.

Forms

cheats cheating cheated