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[fey-ker] /ˈfeɪ kər/

noun
1.
a person who .
2.
a petty swindler.
3.
a peddler or street vendor of articles of dubious value.
[feyk] /feɪk/
verb (used with object), faked, faking.
1.
prepare or make (something specious, deceptive, or fraudulent):
to fake a report showing nonexistent profits.
2.
to conceal the defects of or make appear more attractive, interesting, valuable, etc., usually in order to deceive:
The story was faked a bit to make it more sensational.
3.
to pretend; simulate:
to fake illness.
4.
to accomplish by trial and error or by improvising:
I don’t know the job, but I can fake it.
5.
to trick or deceive (an opponent) by making a fake (often followed by out):
The running back faked out the defender with a deft move and scored.
6.
Jazz.

verb (used without object), faked, faking.
7.
to fake something; pretend.
8.
to give a fake to an opponent.
noun
9.
anything made to appear otherwise than it actually is; counterfeit:
This diamond necklace is a fake.
10.
a person who fakes; :
The doctor with the reputed cure for cancer proved to be a fake.
11.
a spurious report or story.
12.
Sports. a simulated play or move intended to deceive an opponent.
adjective
13.
designed to deceive or cheat; not real; counterfeit.
Verb phrases
14.
fake out, Slang.

/feɪk/
verb
1.
(transitive) to cause (something inferior or not genuine) to appear more valuable, desirable, or real by fraud or pretence
2.
to pretend to have (an illness, emotion, etc): to fake a headache
3.
to improvise (music, stage dialogue, etc)
noun
4.
an object, person, or act that is not genuine; sham, counterfeit, or forgery
adjective
5.
not genuine; spurious
/feɪk/
verb
1.
(transitive) usually foll by down. to coil (a rope) on deck
noun
2.
one round of a coil of rope
n.

1885, agent noun from fake (v.).

attested in London criminal slang as adjective (1775), verb (1812), and noun (1851, of persons 1888), but probably older. A likely source is feague “to spruce up by artificial means,” from German fegen “polish, sweep,” also “to clear out, plunder” in colloquial use. “Much of our early thieves’ slang is Ger. or Du., and dates from the Thirty Years’ War” [Weekley]. Or it may be from Latin facere “to do.” Related: Faked; fakes; faking.

Related Terms

poodle-faker

adjective

: Sham; deceptive

noun

A sham or deception; something spurious (1827+)

verb

[origin uncertain; perhaps fr earlier feak, feague, or fig, ”to spruce up, esp by deceptive artificial means”; perhaps ultimately fr German fegen, ”clean, furbish,” or Latin facere, ”to do”]