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Feint

//feɪnt// adj, noun, verb

Definitions

Adjective

1
Of an attack or offensive movement: directed toward a different part from the intended strike. also, not-comparable, often
2
Of lines printed on paper as a handwriting guide: not bold; faint, light; also, of such paper: ruled with faint lines of this sort. not-comparable
3
Feigned, counterfeit, fake. not-comparable, obsolete
"We force ourselves to be hypocrites, and hide our wrongs from them; we speak of a bad father with false praises; we wear feint smiles over our tears and deceive our children—deceive them, do we?"

Noun

1
A movement made to confuse an opponent; a dummy. often
"In October, Friburg had been taken by a Feint of the Duke of Crequi, before the Duke of Lorrain cou'd come to relieve it; […]"
2
any distracting or deceptive maneuver (as a mock attack) wordnet
3
A blow, thrust, or other offensive movement resembling an attack on some part of the body, intended to distract from a real attack on another part.
"He had some advantage in the difference of our weapons; for his sword, as I recollect, was longer than mine, […] His obvious malignity of purpose never for a moment threw him off his guard, and he exhausted every feint and strategem proper to the science of defence; while, at the same time, he mediated the most desperate catastrophe to our rencounter."
4
Something feigned; a false or pretend appearance; a pretence or stratagem. figuratively
"[I]f your zeal slackens, how can one help thinking that Mr. Courtly's letter is but a feint to get off from a subject in which either your own, or the private and base ends of others to whom you are partial, or those of whom you are afraid, would not endure a reformation?"

Verb

1
To direct (a blow, thrust, or other offensive movement resembling an attack) on some part of the body, intended to distract from a real attack on another part. transitive
"Genevra scowled and said, "His word is wild, / But dastard treason feinteth such disorders: / Treason or witchcraft neither, undefiled, / A Christian court may cherish in its borders.""
2
deceive by a mock action wordnet
3
To direct a feint or mock attack against (someone). rare, transitive
"Feint him—use your legs! draw him about! he'll lose his wind then in no time, and you can go into him."
4
To make a feint or mock attack. also, intransitive, often
"Ben-Hur feinted with his right hand. The stranger warded, slightly advancing his left arm. Ere he could return to guard, Ben-Hur caught him by the wrist in a grip which years at the oar had made terrible as a vise."

Etymology

Etymology 1

The noun is borrowed from French feinte (“dummy, feint”), from feindre (“to fake, feign”), from Old French feindre, faindre, from Latin fingere, the present active infinitive of fingō (“to alter the truth to deceive, dissemble, feign, pretend; to fashion, form, shape”). The verb is derived from the noun. Cognates * Italian finta * Occitan fencha, fenha * Old Spanish finta (modern Spanish finta (“dummy, feint”))

Etymology 2

Etymology 3

Borrowed from French feint, the past participle of feindre (“to fake, feign”): see etymology 1.

Etymology 4

A variant of faint (“barely perceptible; not bright, loud, or sharp”).

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