Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s Dictionary полностью

7 PHRASE If someone tries every trick in the book , they try every possible thing that they can think of in order to achieve something. [INFORMAL ] □  Companies are using every trick in the book to stay one step in front of their competitors.

8 PHRASE If you say that something is a trick of the light , you mean that what you are seeing is an effect caused by the way that the light falls on things, and does not really exist in the way that it appears. □  Her head appears to be on fire but that is only a trick of the light.

9 PHRASE If you say that someone does not miss a trick , you mean that they always know what is happening and take advantage of every situation. [INFORMAL ]

10 PHRASE The tricks of the trade are the quick and clever ways of doing something that are known by people who regularly do a particular activity.

11 PHRASE If you say that someone is up to their tricks or up to their old tricks , you disapprove of them because they are behaving in the dishonest or deceitful way in which they typically behave. [INFORMAL , DISAPPROVAL ] □  I have no respect for my father who, having remarried, is still up to his old tricks.

trick|ery /tr I kəri/ N‑UNCOUNT Trickery is the use of dishonest methods in order to achieve something.

trick|le /tr I k ^ə l/ (trickles , trickling , trickled )

1 VERB When a liquid trickles , or when you trickle it, it flows slowly in very small amounts. □ [V prep/adv] A tear trickled down the old man's cheek. □ [V n] Trickle water gently over the back of your baby's head. [Also V ] ● N‑COUNT [usu sing] Trickle is also a noun. □ [+ of ] There was not so much as a trickle of water.

2 VERB When people or things trickle in a particular direction, they move there slowly in small groups or amounts, rather than all together. □ [V adv/prep] Some donations are already trickling in. ● N‑COUNT [usu sing] Trickle is also a noun. □  The flood of cars has now slowed to a trickle.

tri ckle-down ADJ [ADJ n] The trickle-down theory is the theory that benefits given to people at the top of a system will eventually be passed on to people lower down the system. For example, if the rich receive tax cuts, they will pass these benefits on to the poor by creating jobs. □  The government is not simply relying on trickle-down economics to tackle poverty.

tri ck or trea t N‑UNCOUNT Trick or treat is an activity in which children knock on the doors of houses at Halloween and shout 'trick or treat'. If the person who answers the door does not give the children a treat, such as sweets or candy, they play a trick on him or her.

tri ck que s|tion (trick questions ) N‑COUNT If someone asks you a trick question , they ask you a question which is very difficult to answer, for example because there is a hidden difficulty or because the answer that seems obvious is not the correct one.

trick|ster /tr I kstə ^r / (tricksters ) N‑COUNT A trickster is a person who deceives or cheats people, often in order to get money from them. [INFORMAL ]

tricky /tr I ki/ (trickier , trickiest )

1 ADJ If you describe a task or problem as tricky , you mean that it is difficult to do or deal with. □  Parking can be tricky in the town centre.

2 ADJ [usu ADJ n] If you describe a person as tricky , you mean that they are likely to deceive you or cheat you.

tri|col|our /tr I kələ ^r / (tricolours ) also tricolor N‑COUNT A tricolour is a flag which is made up of blocks of three different colours.

tri|cy|cle /tra I s I k ^ə l/ (tricycles ) N‑COUNT A tricycle is a cycle with three wheels, two at the back and one at the front. Tricycles are usually ridden by children.

tried /tra I d/

1 ADJ [ADJ and adj] Tried is used in the expressions tried and tested , tried and trusted , and tried and true , which describe a product or method that has already been used and has been found to be successful. □  …over 1000 tried-and-tested recipes.

2 → see also try , well-tried