cony-catch

cony-catch

English

Alternative forms

• conicatch (obsolete)

Etymology

Back-formation from cony-catcher.

Verb

cony-catch (third-person singular simple present cony-catches, present participle cony-catching, simple past and past participle cony-caught)

1. (obsolete, transitive) To trick, cheat.
   • 1603, John Florio, transl.; Michel de Montaigne, The Essayes, […], printed at London: By Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], OCLC 946730821:

     , Folio Society, 2006, vol.1, p.208:

     But those that gull and conicatch us with the assurance of an extraordinary facultie […] ought to be double punished.

Usage notes

• Shakespeare used cony-catched as a past tense.