to put one across
- phrasal verb
- UK
:
engañar
- He thought he could put one across on us, but we saw through his story.
Examples
-
They tried to put one across with a fake letter, but it didn't work.
-
I can't believe you managed to put one across on the whole committee.
-
Don't put one across on me!
-
She put one across on her friends during the prank.
-
He tried to put one across by pretending to be someone else, but we figured it out.
-
I was shocked to learn that he managed to put one across on the entire team with his clever disguise.
-
During the meeting, she almost put one across when she claimed to have completed the project alone.
Synonyms
∞
1.3
To say something that is not true to trick someone
704
2.1
To trick someone into believing something that is not true
326
3.5
To make someone believe something false so you can get what you want
270
3.9
To make someone believe something that is not true to get an advantage
87
3.9
Make someone believe something that is not true
71
6.9
Give a false story about someone or something to trick people
58
6.4
To trick someone into believing something false
50
7.3
To make up false information to trick people
48
6.3
Make someone believe something that is not true
23
4.3
Make someone believe something that is not true
19
7.2
To trick someone, often as a joke
18
6.9
To make something or someone look real when they are not
14
8.9
To trick someone by using false words or charm
11
8.3
To trick someone by pretending you want to help them
7
8.2
To trick someone by hiding the truth
7
7.4
Treat someone as stupid to trick or cheat them
6
2.8
To fool someone as a joke
4
3.9
To make all the people believe something that is not true
4
7.8
To make someone believe something that is not true
4
7.9
To trick someone into believing something false
3
5.9
To say something that is not exactly what happened to make it look better
2
4.5
To trick people into believing something false
1
8.9
To trick someone into believing something false
1
9.6
To try to trick someone by saying things that are not true
To trick someone to get their money
To trick someone into believing something false
To tell someone a false story to impress or trick them
To trick someone as a joke
To trick someone so they look silly
Antonyms
How Deceptive
Surface Forms
Morphology
put + one + across
The meaning 'to deceive or trick' is not transparently built from 'put' (to place/perform), 'one' (a person), and 'across' (to the other side/transmit). Although 'put across' can mean 'to convey' or 'present', that sense does not predict deception, and the idiomatic extension to 'put one across' is unpredictable without exposure. Therefore a B1 learner who only knows the constituents is unlikely to derive the intended meaning.
Etymology
The phrasal verb put one across may come from the image of sliding a trick or a fake paper across a table so someone will believe it. You literally put a false thing across to them to fool them, so it now means 'to deceive or trick someone'.