hocusses-pocusses
hocusses-pocusses is the third-person singular simple present indicative of hocus-pocus.
Meaning of hocus-pocus
Verb
hocus-pocus (third-person singular simple present hocus-pocuses or hocus-pocusses or hocuses-pocuses or hocusses-pocusses, present participle hocus-pocusing or hocus-pocussing or hocusing-pocusing or hocussing-pocussing, simple past and past participle hocus-pocused or hocus-pocussed or hocused-pocused or hocussed-pocussed)
- To play tricks or practise sleight of hand (on someone); (by extension) to cheat, to deceive.
- [T]hat which we call Good Humour, is in Truth but a ſort of Slight of Hand in Diſcourſe, or a Faculty of making Truths look like Appearances, or Appearances like Truths. Now this Gift of Hocus Pocuſing, and of Diſguiſing Matters, is ſo Surpriſing and Agreeable on the one hand, that it muſt of...[1692, Roger L’Estrange, “[The Fables of Poggius.] Fab[le] CCCLV. A Woman Drown’d [Reflexion].”, in Fables, of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists: […], London: […] R[ichard] Sare, […], →OCLC, pages...
Questions about hocusses-pocusses
- What is hocusses-pocusses the third-person singular simple present indicative of?
- Hocusses-pocusses is the third-person singular simple present indicative of hocus-pocus.
Words near hocusses-pocusses in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: hocusses-pocusses (page history and authors); hocus-pocus (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “hocusses-pocusses.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/hocusses-pocusses. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.