Word.ws English Dictionary

the oldest trick in the book

the oldest trick in the book phrase: a method of deception or trickery that has been overused so many times before that it should therefore be well-known or remain as common knowledge to everyone.

Phrase

the oldest trick in the book

  1. A method of deception or trickery that has been overused so many times before that it should therefore be well-known or remain as common knowledge to everyone.

Questions about the oldest trick in the book

What does the oldest trick in the book mean?
The oldest trick in the book means a method of deception or trickery that has been overused so many times before that it should therefore be well-known or remain as common knowledge to everyone.
What part of speech is the oldest trick in the book?
The oldest trick in the book is a phrase.

Words near the oldest trick in the book in the dictionary

  1. the nut does not fall far from the tree
  2. The Oaks
  3. the odds are good, but the goods are odd
  4. The Odyssey
  5. the old woman is plucking her goose
  6. the oldest trick in the book
  7. The Olgas
  8. the one
  9. the one that got away
  10. the ones
  11. the organ grinder, not the monkey

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: the oldest trick in the book (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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