cony-catch

English

Alternative forms

conicatch (obsolete)

Etymology

Back-formation from cony-catcher.

Verb

cony-catch (third-person singular simple present cony-catches, present participle cony-catching, simple past and past participle cony-caught)

(obsolete, transitive) To trick, cheat.
- 1603, Michel de Montaigne, translated by John Florio, The Essayes […], London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC:
  But those that gull and conicatch us with the assurance of an extraordinary facultie […] ought to be double punished.
- 1604 (date written), Tho[mas] Dekker, [Thomas Middleton], The Honest Whore. […] (4th quarto), London: […] Nicholas Okes for Robert Basse, […], published 1616, →OCLC, Act I, signature B2, recto:
  [W]hy ſiſter do you thinke I'le cunny-catch you, vvhen you are my cozen?

Usage notes

William Shakespeare used cony-catched as a past tense.

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