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feint

 - 4 dictionary results

feint

  [feynt]
Use feint in a Sentence
–noun
1. a movement made in order to deceive an adversary; an attack aimed at one place or point merely as a distraction from the real place or point of attack: military feints; the feints of a skilled fencer.
2. a feigned or assumed appearance: His air of approval was a feint to conceal his real motives.
–verb (used without object)
3. to make a feint.
–verb (used with object)
4. to make a feint at; deceive with a feint.
5. to make a false show of; simulate.
Origin:
1275–1325; ME < OF feinte, n. use of fem. of feint pretended, ptp. of feindre to feign

feints

  [feynts]
–plural noun
faints.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To feint
feint   (fānt)   
n.  

  1. A feigned attack designed to draw defensive action away from an intended target.

  2. A deceptive action calculated to divert attention from one's real purpose. See Synonyms at wile.

v.   feint·ed, feint·ing, feints

v.   intr.
To make a feint.
v.   tr.

  1. To deceive with a feint.

  2. To make a deceptive show of.


[French feinte, from Old French, from past participle of feindre, to feign; see feign.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

feint  (n.)
1679, from Fr. feinte "a feint, sham," from O.Fr. feint, originally fem. pp. of feindre (see feign). Borrowed c.1314 as adj., but now obsolete in that sense. The v. "to make a sham attack" is first attested 1833.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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