Con

/kɒn/ · verb

Meaning

(rare) To study or examine carefully, especially in order to gain knowledge of; to learn, or learn by heart..

Definitions by Sense

1. (rare) To study or examine carefully, especially in order to gain knowledge of; to learn, or learn by heart.
2. (rare, obsolete) To know; understand; acknowledge.
3. A disadvantage of something, especially when contrasted with its advantages (pros).
4. (slang) A convicted criminal, a convict.
5. (informal) A fraud; something carried out with the intention of deceiving, usually for personal, often illegal, gain.
6. (transitive, informal) To trick, lie or defraud, usually for personal gain.
7. Alternative form of conn (“direct a ship”).
8. Alternative form of conn (“navigational direction of a ship”).

Example Sentences

For Caſſius is a-weary of the World: / Hated by one he loues, brau'd by his Brother, / Check'd like a bondman, all his faults obſeru'd, / Set in a Note-booke, learn'd, and con'd by roate / To caſt into my Teeth.

At length, himself unsettling, he the pond / Stirred with his staff, and fixedly did look / Upon the muddy water, which he conned, / As if he had been reading in a book

I did not come into parliament to con my lesson. I had earned my pension before I set my foot in St. Stephen's chapel.

During these delectable entertainments, Miss Wirt and the chaperon sate by, and conned over the peerage, and talked about the nobility.

He read old almanacs at the book-stalls on the quays, and he began to frequent another café, where more newspapers were taken and his post-prandial demi-tasse cost him a penny extra, and where he used to con the tattered sheets for curious anecdotes, freaks of nature, and strange coincidences.

One day, however, when he had been conning one of his music-scores, and by force of imagination was hearing the tune in his head, he lapsed into listlessness, and the music-sheet rolled to the hearth.

Du Mornay exchanged a few words with me, to assure himself that I understood what I had to do, and then, with many kind expressions, which I did not fail to treasure up and con over in the times that were coming, hastened downstairs after his master.

The hawk rested on a crag of the gorge and conned the terrain with a fierce and frowning eye.

Synonyms for con

Antonyms for con

Related Words

Word Forms

• cons
• conning
• conned
• conne
• conn

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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