▪ I. psych, n. colloq.
(saɪk)
Also psyche.
[f. psychology, psychiatry, etc.]
1. Psychology or psychiatry. Freq. attrib.
| 1895 W. C. Gore in Inlander Nov. 64 Psych. n., psychology. 1910 in Dialect Notes (1914) IV. 129 He was feeling sadly as he thought of Psych and Chem. 1946 P. Carter in Aldiss & Harrison Decade 1940s (1975) 111 Shut up or I'll have the psych corpsman go over you. 1951 Galaxy Sci. Fiction May 138/1 He had put the entire student body through interrogation and a psych check. 1953 ‘T. Sturgeon’ More than Human iii. 204 He went through medical school too, and psych. 1960 Analog Science Fact/Fiction Nov. 12/1, I checked with one of our own psych men... Lefferts has definite paranoid tendencies, he says. 1975 R. Rimmer Premar Experiments (1976) i. 78 Since I didn't feel like watching TV in the sitting room, I concentrated on my psych book. 1976 Amer. Speech 1973 XLVIII. 297 In most large, metropolitan hospitals, there are customarily two or more units devoted to psych. |
2. a. pl. Psychical research.
| 1927 Observer 2 Oct. 7 The story of his magic and his mysticism is good, but it is not half such satisfying spookery as is going out..from the offices of the S.P.R. Beginners in ‘Psychs’ may get a thrill or two from the book. |
b. A psychic person.
| 1975 Publishers Weekly 7 Apr. 81/3 He has great ESP powers, so he volunteers to help his friend Ahmed of the Rescue Squad trace psyches in distress. |
3. A psychologist, psychiatrist, or psychoanalyst.
| 1946 P. Carter in Aldiss & Harrison Decade 1940s (1975) 113 The psychs probably have a spy or two planted in this room. 1947 L. MacNeice Dark Tower 181 You don't mean a psycho-analyst?.. We do not believe in the psych. 1962 P. Mortimer Pumpkin Eater xvi. 146 It's only that the doctor, that psyche, did say that I shouldn't have another child. I'm in the middle of treatment, Jake says, for depression. 1964 R. Petrie Murder by Precedent x. 156 He'd better see a psych—no, his family doctor. 1968 Listener 19 Dec. 810/1 ‘That would be very foolish, but also of some inconvenience to me,’ the psych said. |
4. Bridge. (Usu. as psyche.) A psychic bid.
| 1965 [see psych v. 2]. 1969 A. Truscott Gt. Bridge Scandal 272 His rather puerile psyche clearly indicates that he knew nothing about the hearts opposite. 1973 L. Meynell Fatal Flaw iv. 33 Vyvyan already knew Nancy's play..very dependable; no ‘psyches’ or fancy tricks. 1980 Oxford Times (City ed.) 25 Jan. 11/6 Barry Rigal reports on the two methods of dealing with psyches—the successful and the unsuccessful—against Surrey. |
▪ II. psych, v. colloq.
(saɪk)
Also psyche.
[f. psychoanalyse v., etc.: cf. prec.]
I. 1. trans. To subject to psychoanalysis.
| 1917 Metropolitan Mag. Jan. 20/1 Well, she went to this psychoanalyzer; she was ‘psyched’. 1928 Daily Express 31 Dec. 2/5 While for some patients being ‘psyched’ may be a step towards being cured, to others it may amount to being infected. 1943 F. Brown Angels & Spaceships (1955) 178 It isn't fair to psych a guy when he doesn't know what he's talking about. 1965 P. Wylie They both were Naked i. i. 20 I've been psyched so much I can hardly daydream as I used to. 1973 K. Giles File on Death i. 10 He's been psyched to the best of our skill. |
II. 2. intr. In Bridge, to make a bid that misrepresents one's hand in order to deceive one's opponents.
| 1952 [implied in psyching vbl. n.]. 1965 Sunday Times (Colour Suppl.) 31 Jan. 38/2 ‘Obviously Jones has psyched... Don't tell me you wouldn't try five-spades.’.. You catch them out in a full-blooded psyche. 1969 A. Truscott Gr. Bridge Scandal 271 He had no technical reason to suppose that his partner had psyched. 1977 Detroit Free Press 11 Dec. 22–c/1 The psychic bid was invented by Dorothy Rice Sims in the early 1930s. It soon became the vogue to ‘psyche’, usually with hit and miss results. |
III. 3. trans. To influence (someone) psychologically; to excite, stimulate; (usu. with up) to prepare (oneself or another) mentally for a special effort or the like; (usu. with out) to gain a psychological advantage over, to intimidate, to demoralize. Freq. as pa. pple. or ppl. adj. orig. and chiefly U.S.
| 1957 Venture Sci. Fiction Jan. 18/2 A growing moodiness had driven her..to get out alone... She couldn't understand the pull she felt... Ever since those moments in the Monster's cage... Damn the Monster! Had the thing psyched her? 1961 Milwaukee Jrnl. 8 Nov. 11. 16/3 ‘We didn't think we could beat Maine with an orthodox offense,’ Hatch said. ‘We hoped this way to provoke some defensive miscues and also to {oqq} psych{cqq} our own kids into believing they had something extra going for them.’ 1963 Amer. Speech XXXVIII. 205 Get psyched out, v. phr., slang term applied to losing one's nerve while skiing downhill. 1966 Time 29 Apr. 35 Having discovered psychology, the cops induce ‘truth’ by psyching the subject. 1967 J. Severson Great Surfing Gloss., Psyched out, mentally incapacitated; generally referring to a surfer's reaction to the big surf. To become frightened, shook up. 1968–70 Current Slang (Univ. S. Dakota) III–IV. 96 Psyched up, adj., excited. 1968 New Yorker 10 Aug. 78 He's never tried to psych us, or insult us with a pep talk. 1969 Ibid. 14 June 72/3 It's not that I'm psyched out by him, but I'm playing great and he hits three all-time winners. 1970 N. Armstrong et al. First on Moon xiii. 318 He always likes to get you psyched up for tragedy. 1971 E. Bullins in W. King Black Short Story Anthol. (1972) 63 Dandy thought that the way she managed things and worked the love and affection from people was like a pimp who psychs out his whores. 1972 N.Y. Times 4 June 4/8 At tiring moments she tried to psyche herself up by muttering, ‘McGovern, McGovern, I've got to win for McGovern.’ 1973 P. A. Whitney Snowfire vii. 131 He was absolutely without fear. Nothing ever psyched him out before a race. 1973 Massachusetts Daily Collegian 26 Apr. 8/1 The states get psyched... New England..has begun to get just a little excited about the upcoming bicentennial of the American Revolution. 1974 H. L. Foster Ribbin' vi. 252 The teacher psychs himself—that is, puts himself in a certain frame of mind so that he can deal with the realities of his teaching assignment. 1974 Canad. Mag. 21 Sept. 27/1 It's harder for me to get myself up for practices but I still get myself up for a game. Only you have to psych yourself harder as time goes by. a 1976 J. Quarry in 6,000 Words 165 Pressure doesn't psych me. 1977 I. Shaw Beggarman, Thief iii. viii. 313, I had no business being at the net. I was trying to psyche you into missing the shot. Ibid. ix. 318, I could see something was psyching him out and it worried me. 1978 Telegraph (Brisbane) 28 Sept. 23/4 For months we had been psyching ourselves up for this very rare entertainment delight. 1979 Chatelaine (Canada) Jan. 22/3 Psych yourself into ignoring your pet's emotional pleas for more food. 1979 Tucson (Arizona) Citizen 20 Sept. 6d/1 It's hard for our kids to get psyched up for a dual meet, especially this early in the season. |
4. trans. With out. To analyse in psychological terms; to work out.
| a 1961 D. Hulburd in Webster s.v., I psyched it all out by myself. 1973 Daily Tel. (Colour Suppl.) 30 Nov. 38/1, I would have come away from his [sc. Geller's] various feats as from any others I could not psych out—certain there was a simple, logical, rather ordinary explanation that escaped me. 1974 K. Millett Flying (1975) iv. 435 Mother's X-ray eyes met Celia once, had it all psyched out in three minutes. 1978 S. Brill Teamsters iii. 88 Most others could never approach Hoffa's ability..to psyche out the opposition's thinking so consistently. |
5. intr. With out. To break down mentally; to become confused or deranged.
| 1970 Atlantic Monthly Feb. 84, I psyched out. I'll be damned if I know how. 1971 J. Mandelkau Buttons xiv. 155, I psyched out! 1972 R. Bloch Night-World (1974) xiv. 90 It had been a real rip-off, and at first Tony had psyched out on the whole scene. 1973 To our Returned Prisoners of War (U.S. Secretary of Defense, Public Affairs) 8 Psych out,..to become confused or disturbed. |
Hence ˈpsyching vbl. n.
| 1952 I. Macleod Bridge vii. 95 The other main rule for intelligent psyching is to read your partner's bid as phoney before the opponents find out, and to thicken the smoke screen. 1974 Times Lit. Suppl. 22 Feb. 182/5 The reading and psyching of an opponent is quite as fascinating as chess. 1974 H. L. Foster Ribbin' vi. 250 The psyching function helps them overcome their middle class, nonphysical, open personality. 1975 Time Out 16 May 13/2 None of the heavy ‘psyching’ or banal superstitions that I'd expected. 1977 Washington Post 7 Sept. e9 In time the players realized that ‘psyching’ was not a dividend payer. |