chicane

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

noun a bridge hand that is void of trumps
noun a movable barrier used in motor racing; sometimes placed before a dangerous corner to reduce speed as cars pass in single file
noun the use of tricks to deceive someone (usually to extract money from them)

Borrowed from French chicane.

How did you free yourself from all the bonds Of sly chicane, and artful deep persuasion? — The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers, Diogenes Laertius
Bentham started in life as a barrister, and attended Blackstone's lectures, with the result that he was deeply impressed by the fallacies of the legal theories there expounded, and soon afterward vowed eternal war against the Demon of Chicane. — Studies in Literature and History, Alfred C., Sir Lyall
There are thirty thousand Chinese in the Sambas districts, and they feel themselves strong enough to oppose or evade this tax; it hence becomes a perpetual contest between greedy extortion on the one side, and avaricious chicane on the other; there are beside about twelve thousand Malays and Dayers. — The Expedition to Borneo of H.M.S. Dido: For the Suppression of Piracy, Henry, Sir Keppel

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