v., cheat·ed, cheat·ing, cheats. v.tr.
- To deceive by trickery; swindle: cheated customers by overcharging them for purchases.
- To deprive by trickery; defraud: cheated them of their land.
- To mislead; fool: illusions that cheat the eye.
- To elude; escape: cheat death.
- To act dishonestly; practice fraud.
- To violate rules deliberately, as in a game: was accused of cheating at cards.
- Informal. To be sexually unfaithful: cheat on a spouse.
- Baseball. To position oneself closer to a certain area than is normal or expected: The shortstop cheated toward second base.
- An act of cheating; a fraud or swindle.
- One who cheats; a swindler.
- A computer application, password, or disallowed technique used to advance to a higher skill level in a computer video game.
- Law. Fraudulent acquisition of another's property.
- Botany. An annual European species of brome grass (Bromus secalinus) widely naturalized in temperate regions.
[Middle English cheten, to confiscate, short for acheten, variant of escheten, from eschete, escheat. See escheat.]
cheater cheat'er n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
