con

Everyday

1. (informal) A con is a trick to cheat someone, usually to get their money: it was all a con. tree →
2. (informal) To con someone is to trick them into believing something false or giving you something. tree →
3. Cons are the disadvantages of something, as in «pros and cons» (the good points and the bad points). tree →
4. (informal) A con is short for a convict, a person in prison. tree →
5. A con is also a big fan meeting, like a comic con. tree →

In the lessons

In everyday life and online safety lessons, pupils learn to spot cons: messages saying you won a prize, people asking for passwords or money. In English and persuasive writing, «pros and cons» means weighing up both sides before a decision. Phrases: «a con artist» (a cheat), «con someone out of money», «pros and cons», «comic con».

Examples

• That free phone offer is a con. tree →
• A con artist tricked Grandpa out of his savings. tree →
• Don't let anyone con you into sharing your password. tree →
• Let's list the pros and cons of a school uniform. tree →
• One con of a dog is that you have to walk it in the rain. tree →
• We dressed up as superheroes for the comic con. tree →
• He conned his little sister into doing his chores. tree →

Note

Verb forms: conned, conning. «Pros and cons»: pros = for, cons = against. «Con» is informal, used in talk and news; in formal writing use «fraud», «scam» or «trick». «Con-» at the start of many words (connect, contain) has nothing to do with cheating.

In Jewish tradition

Here it is not a word but the start of a longer word split at the end of a line, such as con-ciliation. In the primary lessons: In everyday life and online safety lessons, pupils learn to spot cons: messages saying you won a prize, people asking for passwords or money. In English and persuasive writing, «pros and cons» means weighing up both sides before a decision. Phrases: «a con artist» (a cheat), «con someone out of money», «pros and cons», «comic con».

Examples

• The Twenty-first Path is the Intelligence of Con- ciliation, and is so called because it receives the divine influence which flows into it from its benediction upon all and each existence. (Sefer Yetzirah, Westcott 1893) tree →
• witli that of "double letters"' and "simple letters", which con- trast admirably witii eacli otlier. (Mordell, The Origin of Letters and Numerals according to Sefer Yetzirah (1914)) tree →
• The attri- bution of the work to Rabbi Akiba umbjubtedly rests on a con- fusion of titles. (Mordell, The Origin of Letters and Numerals according to Sefer Yetzirah (1914)) tree →

Note

Verb forms: conned, conning. «Pros and cons»: pros = for, cons = against. «Con» is informal, used in talk and news; in formal writing use «fraud», «scam» or «trick». «Con-» at the start of many words (connect, contain) has nothing to do with cheating.