You searched for: “hoaxes
hoax (s) (noun), hoaxes (pl)
1. An act that is intended to trick people into believing something is real when it is not: Shelby and Mark recognized the offer in the e-mail as nothing more than a hoax; in fact, there are many spam messages that are nothing more than hoaxes.
2. Something that has been established or accepted by fraudulent means: The bomb threat was thought to be a hoax; however, the residents of the apartments were still told to evacuate the building.
3. A person who is the subject of a playful joke: Adele was the victim of a cruel hoax when she was told that she had won a million dollars in a lotto drawing.
This entry is located in the following unit: hoax, hocus (page 1)
hoax (verb), hoaxes; hoaxed; hoaxing
1. To trick people into believing that something is real when it is not: Too many people are being hoaxed by e-mails into believing that they will receive a lot of money if they respond to the sender.

A radio audience was hoaxed into believing that Martians had landed on earth and some people actually thought it was true.

2. Etymology: the term hoax is believed to be from hocus or something spoken quickly and there is also hokum, which is a blend of hocus-pocus and "bunkum" or "bunk".
Tricking or fooling people into believing something that is nothing more than a joke.
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This entry is located in the following unit: hoax, hocus (page 1)
Word Entries at Get Words: “hoaxes
To trick into believing, accepting, or into doing something. (1)