Library / English Dictionary

CON

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

Irregular inflected forms: conned    , conning   

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A swindle in which you cheat at gambling or persuade a person to buy worthless property

Synonyms:

bunco; bunco game; bunko; bunko game; con; con game; confidence game; confidence trick; flimflam; hustle; sting

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("con" is a kind of...):

cheat; rig; swindle (the act of swindling by some fraudulent scheme)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "con"):

sting operation (a complicated confidence game planned and executed with great care (especially an operation implemented by undercover agents to apprehend criminals))

Derivation:

con (deprive of by deceit)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An argument opposed to a proposal

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("con" is a kind of...):

argument; statement (a fact or assertion offered as evidence that something is true)

Antonym:

pro (an argument in favor of a proposal)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A person serving a sentence in a jail or prison

Synonyms:

con; convict; inmate; yard bird; yardbird

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("con" is a kind of...):

captive; prisoner (a person who is confined; especially a prisoner of war)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "con"):

lifer (a prisoner serving a term of life imprisonment)

trusty (a convict who is considered trustworthy and granted special privileges)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Commit to memory; learn by heart

Example:

Have you memorized your lines for the play yet?

Synonyms:

con; learn; memorise; memorize

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Hypernyms (to "con" is one way to...):

hit the books; study (learn by reading books)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "con"):

alternate; understudy (be an understudy or alternate for a role)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 2

Meaning:

Deprive of by deceit

Example:

She defrauded the customers who trusted her

Synonyms:

bunco; con; defraud; diddle; goldbrick; hornswoggle; mulct; nobble; rook; scam; short-change; swindle; victimize

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "con" is one way to...):

cheat; chisel; rip off (deprive somebody of something by deceit)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "con"):

short; short-change (cheat someone by not returning him enough money)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s somebody PP

Sentence example:

They con him of all his money

Derivation:

con (a swindle in which you cheat at gambling or persuade a person to buy worthless property)

 III. (adverb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

In opposition to a proposition, opinion, etc.

Example:

much was written pro and con

Classified under:

Adverbs

Antonym:

pro (in favor of a proposition, opinion, etc.)

Credits

 Context examples: 

On the looking-glass were lists of definitions and pronunciations; when shaving, or dressing, or combing his hair, he conned these lists over.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Indiaman in distress; and you shall go there another day, and find them deep in the evidence, pro and con, respecting a clergyman who has misbehaved himself; and you shall find the judge in the nautical case, the advocate in the clergyman's case, or contrariwise.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

The echoing chamber of his soul was a narrow room, a conning tower, whence were directed his arm and shoulder muscles, his ten nimble fingers, and the swift-moving iron along its steaming path in broad, sweeping strokes, just so many strokes and no more, just so far with each stroke and not a fraction of an inch farther, rushing along interminable sleeves, sides, backs, and tails, and tossing the finished shirts, without rumpling, upon the receiving frame.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Not that they touched hands often, save at meeting and parting; but that in handling the bicycles, in strapping on the books of verse they carried into the hills, and in conning the pages of books side by side, there were opportunities for hand to stray against hand.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)