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psych out

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psych-out

  [sahyk-out]
Use psych out in a Sentence
–noun Informal.
an act or instance of psyching out.
Origin:
1960–65; n. use of v. phrase psych out
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psych

1  [sahyk]
–verb (used with object) Informal.
1. to intimidate or frighten psychologically, or make nervous (often fol. by out): to psych out the competition.
2. to prepare psychologically to be in the right frame of mind or to give one's best (often fol. by up): to psych oneself up for an interview.
3. to figure out psychologically; decipher (often fol. by out): to psych out a problem.
Also, psyche.

Origin:
1915–20 in earlier sense “to subject to psychoanalysis”; orig. a shortening of psychoanalyze; in later use (especially in defs. 1 and 2) perh. independent use of psych-
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Slang Dictionary
psych out

  1. in.
    to have a nervous or emotional trauma; to go mad for a brief time. (See also freak (out).) : Another day like this one and I'll psych out for sure.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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psych (so) out

  1. tv.
    to try to figure out what someone is likely to do. : The batter tried to psych out the pitcher, but it didn't work.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

psych 
short for psychology in various senses; as an academic study, in student slang by 1895. The verb is generally negative when used transitively, positive when intransitive; first attested (also psych out) 1934 as "to outsmart," from 1963 as "to unnerve." However to psych (oneself) up is from 1972; to be psyched up is attested from 1968.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: psych
Function: abbreviation
psychology
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Idioms & Phrases

psych out

  1. Analyze or understand something; also, anticipate the intentions of someone, as in It's hard to psych out the opposition's thinking, but we have to try.

  2. Undermine the confidence of, intimidate. For example, The basketball team managed to psych out their opponents' guards. This expression is often used in the passive and can mean "lose one's nerve," as in After I learned that he had two doctorates in the field, I was completely psyched out. Both slangy usages date from the second half of the 1900s and allude to influencing someone psychologically.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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