rick-roll

Verb

rickroll (third-person singular simple present rickrolls, present participle rickrolling, simple past and past participle rickrolled)

1. (transitive) To mislead (someone) into following a seemingly innocuous hyperlink, or sometimes a QR code, that leads to a YouTube video of Rick Astley's song "Never Gonna Give You Up".
   • I try not to get rickrolled by sketchy YouTube links, but sometimes you let your guard down.
2. (broadly, transitive) To surprise or trick (someone) into hearing this song.
   • The DJ rickrolled the whole audience by suddenly playing Rick Astley’s hit song.
3. (broadly, transitive) To cause (someone) to unexpectedly engage with this song through an indirect method, such as through steganography, sheet music, or by inserting the lyrics into an unrelated context.
   • She inserted the lyrics of “Never Gonna Give You Up” into her speech so casually that most listeners didn’t even realize they’d been rickrolled.

See all 8 meanings of rickroll