Word of the Day: Hoodwink

hoodwink

hood-wink / ho͝od–wĭngk

verb

1. to trick or mislead through deception

An enlightened mind is not hoodwinked; it is not shut up in a gloomy prison till it thinks the walls of its dungeon the limits of the universe, and the reach of its own chain the outer verge of intelligence.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 1807 – 1882

2. (archaic) to blindfold

A thinking man is the worst enemy the Prince of Darkness can have; every time such an one announces himself, I doubt not there runs a shudder through the nether empire; and new emissaries are trained with new tactics, to, if possible, entrap and hoodwink and handcuff him.

Thomas Carlyle, 1795 – 1881

3. (obsolete) to hide or conceal

I hoodwink one flank so as to trounce the other.

Napoleon Bonaparte, 1769 – 1821