box of tricks
English
Alternative forms
- box-of-tricks
Noun
box of tricks
- A box, suitcase, etc., used by a magician to carry stage paraphernalia.
- (figuratively) Anything used to perform a specific task or achieve a particular goal; the means or apparatus used to accomplish something.
- 1902 January 2, The Evening Telegraph, page 3, column 2:
- Uncle Sam has found his box of tricks heavy, and is having a whiff before going on with his white man's burden to the end.
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- (figuratively) A crafty person.
- 1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “(please specify the chapter number)”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, published April 2019:
- "You damned, canting, hypocritical box-of-tricks. I'll be even with you yet." The heavy door slammed behind him.
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Derived terms
- whole box of tricks