COZEN

cozen

(verb) cheat or trick; “He cozened the money out of the old man”

cozen

(verb) act with artful deceit

deceive, lead on, delude, cozen

(verb) be false to; be dishonest with

Source: WordNet® 3.1

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Etymology 1

Verb

cozen (third-person singular simple present cozens, present participle cozening, simple past and past participle cozened)

(intransitive) To become cozy; (by extension) to become acquainted, comfortable, or familiar with.

Usage notes

• Usually used with up.

Etymology 2

Verb

cozen (third-person singular simple present cozens, present participle cozening, simple past and past participle cozened)

(archaic) To cheat; to defraud; to deceive, usually by small arts, or in a pitiful way. [from late 16th c.]

Synonym: beguile

Usage notes

Modern usage is generally to effect a dated style.

Source: Wiktionary

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Coz"en (kz"'n), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Cozened (-'nd); p. pr. & vb. n. Cozening (-'n-ng). ] Etym: [From cousin, hence, literally, to deceive through pretext of relationship, F. cousiner.]

Definition: To cheat; to defrand; to beguile; to deceive, usually by small arts, or in a pitiful way. He had cozened the world by fine phrases. Macualay. Children may be cozened into a knowledge of the letters. Locke. Goring loved no man so well but that he would cozen him, and expose him to public mirth for having been cozened. Clarendon.

Coz"en, v. i.

Definition: To deceive; to cheat; to act deceitfully. Some cogging,cozening slave. Shak.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition

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