Prank (Word of the Day, 2009/4/1)

prank /præŋk/ noun [countable]

►a trick, especially one which is played on someone to make them look silly

--Pushing her in the river seemed like a harmless prank, but it ended in tragedy.

Verb used with “prank”: play, pull

Play/pull a prank on sb.

--Every year, the older kids pull pranks on new students.

--If you like to play pranks on people, then you'll love April Fools' Day.

 

prank /præŋk/ verb

►dress or decorate showily or gaudily

--Roses were pranking the lawn.

►dress up showily

--He pranked himself out in his best clothes.

 

prankster /’præŋkstə/ noun [countable]

►someone who plays tricks on people to make them look silly

--Is it an emergency, or just a midnight prankster?

 

prankish /’præŋkɪʃ/ adjective

►naughtily or annoyingly playful

--A prankish husband was mistaken for armed robber.

 

Synonyms

Joke /ʤok/ noun [countable]

►something that you say or do to make people laugh, especially a funny story or trick

--She wondered if the others were playing a joke on her.

practical joke /ˏpræktɪkl ‘ʤok/ noun [countable]

-- a trick that is intended to give someone a surprise or shock, or to make them look stupid

 

trick /trɪk/ noun [countable]

►something you do in order to deceive someone

--Pretending he doesn't remember is an old trick of his.

►something you do to surprise someone and to make other people laugh

--I'm getting tired of your silly tricks.

►something that makes things appear to be different from the way really are

--After walking for hours in the hot sun, his mind began playing tricks on him.

►an unkind of unfair thing to do: a dirty/rotten/mean trick

--He didn't turn up? What a dirty trick!

►if something does the trick, it solves a problem or provides what is needed to get a good result: do the trick

--A bit more flour should do the trick.

►a skillful set of actions that seem like magic, done to entertain people : card trick/magic trick

--My uncle was always showing me card tricks when I was a kid.

►a way of doing something that works very well but may not be easy to notice / clever method

--The trick is to bend your knees as you catch the ball.

 

Word Usage:

►Magic done as entertainment

trick

--For my final trick, I will make this elephant disappear.

►Method/plan/system

trick

--In college, I learned a trick to remember names.

►something that deceives somebody

trick

--Don't send her any money - it might be a trick.

►something that makes things appear different

trick

--At first he thought someone was coming towards him, but it was just a trick of the light.

►something that you do to make people laugh

Joke, practical joke, prank, play a trick/joke/prank

--The girls were playing tricks/jokes/pranks on their teacher.

--I haven’t played any special April fools’ pranks in last couple of years. But when we were kids then, we did really use those regular tricks like tying a string to a wallet and leaving it on the middle of a busy road.

►something you say or write in order to be funny

joke

--Do you want to hear a good joke?