/feɪnt/
OriginBorrowed from French feint, the past participle of feindre (“to fake, feign”): see etymology 1.
- oftenA movement made to confuse an opponent; a dummy.
“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; […]”
“Nothing could be more uncertain than the intentions of the French marshal [André Masséna], and Lord Wellington [Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington] felt, that by an incautious movement, his army”
- 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 exh”
“It is also possible to deliver a compound riposte by using an indirect feint. The attacking fencer would be open to a compound riposte following a successful parry by their opponent.”
- figurativelySomething feigned; a false or pretend appearance; a pretence or stratagem.
“[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 p”
“If you had fallen up against him (as some of them did), and stood there; he would have made a feint of endeavouring to seize you, which would have been an affront to your understanding; […]”
“Receiving no reply at all here, from the thoughtful man whom he addressed, Mr. William approached him nearer, and made a feint of accidentally knocking the table with a decanter, to rouse him.”
- transitiveTo 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.
“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."”
“Even Penrod's walk was affected; he adopted a gait which was a kind of taunting swagger; and, when he passed other children on the street, he practised the habit of feinting a blow; then, as the victi”
“I spurred on the Turani instead of pulling him in, and stood up in the saddle just as we came upon the two. By feinting a slash at one I made him throw up his saber to guard his head. Then, leaning do”
- rare, transitiveTo direct a feint or mock attack against (someone).
“Feint him—use your legs! draw him about! he'll lose his wind then in no time, and you can go into him.”
- also, intransitive, oftenTo make a feint or mock attack.
“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 terri”
“My assailant stood a little; in the thick darkness I could see him bob and sidle as though he were feinting at me for an advantageous onfall.”
“Gomez feinted with his knife and the other man darted backward. He feinted again and the man moved to the side. The man feinted but Gomez didn't budge; he was anxious to get it on.”
- also, not-comparable, oftenOf an attack or offensive movement: directed toward a different part from the intended strike.
- not-comparable, obsoleteFeigned, counterfeit, fake.
“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?”
- not-comparableOf lines printed on paper as a handwriting guide: not bold; faint, light; also, of such paper: ruled with faint lines of this sort.
Formsfeints(plural) · feints(present, singular, third-person) · feinting(participle, present) · feinted(participle, past) · feinted(past)