▪ I. hocus, n.
(ˈhəʊkəs)
Also 7 hocas.
[Short for hocus pocus, hocus-pocus.]
† 1. A conjuror, juggler. Obs.
| 1640 G. H. Witt's Recreat. in Facetiæ (1817) II. 237 Epitaph..On Hocas Pocas. Here Hocas lyes with his tricks and his knocks, Whom death hath made sure as his Juglers box. 1647 Cleveland Poems, Rebell Scot 36 Before a Scot can properly be curst, I must (like Hocus) swallow daggers first. 1675 Coffee-Houses Vind. in Harl. Misc. VI. 473 Our pamphlet-monger (that sputters out senseless characters faster, than any hocus can vomit inkle). 1694 R. L'Estrange Fables xciv. (1714) 109 These Ordinary Hocusses..have been made use of in all ages. 1699 ― Colloq. Erasm. (1711) 37 Running mad after Buffoons, Fortune-tellers and Hocus's. |
† b. transf. A cheat, imposter, pretender. Obs.
| c 1685 South Serm. Will for Deed Serm. (1715) 411 Just like that old formal Hocus, who denied a Beggar a Farthing, and put him off with his Blessing. |
2. Jugglery, trickery, deception. Obs. or arch.
| 1652 Gaule Magastrom. 41, I must not believe there was any Hocas in this. 1693 R. Gould Corrupt. Times 3 (Stanf.) A quick Eye may all their Hocus see. 1854 S. Dobell Balder xxiv. 164 Here..With neither gold nor tinsel, cap nor crown, Hocus nor title..nor conjuring-rod nor sceptre..To lie here thus. |
3. Drugged liquor: cf. hocus v. 2.
| In mod. Dicts. |
4. Comb. as hocus-trick, juggling trick.
| c 1680 Roxb. Ball. (1885) V. 595 Three Kingdoms now at stake do lie, And Rooks all Hocus-tricks do try, That ye may be undone. a 1683 Oldham Poet. Wks. (1686) 78 Such Holy Cheats, such Hocus Tricks, these, For Miracles amongst the Rabble pass. |
▪ II. hocus, v.
(ˈhəʊkəs)
[f. hocus n.
Supposed to be the source of the later hoax v., though the want of instances for the 18th c. makes this less certain. Apparently revived in 19th c., perh. under the influence of hoax.]
1. trans. To play a trick upon, ‘take in’, hoax.
| 1675 R. Head Proteus Rediv. 322 The Mercer cries, Was ever Man so Hocuss'd? however, I have enough to maintain me here. a 1686 Nalson (T.), One of the greatest pieces of legerdemain, with which these jugglers hocus the vulgar and incautelous of the present age. 1847 Disraeli Tancred vi. v, There is nothing..I so revel in as hocussing Guizot and Aberdeen. 1883 Ld. R. Gower My Remin. I. 368 These people have been hocussed and cheated by the Government. |
2. To stupefy with drugs, esp. for a criminal purpose; hence, to drug (liquor).
| 1831 in Ann. Reg., Law Cases (1832) 321/2 [A witness] saw May put some gin into Bishop's tea. He said, ‘Are you going to hocus (or Burke) me?’ 1837 Dickens Pickw. xiii, ‘What do you mean by {oqq}hocussing{cqq} brandy-and water?’..‘Puttin' laud'num in it’, replied Sam. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair lxiv, It was at her house at Lausanne that he was hocussed at supper and lost eight hundred pounds to Major Loader. 1885 J. Grant Royal Highlanders (Rtldg.) 154 By unfair play he had rooked many: he had hocussed horses. 1887 Besant The World went etc. xviii. 148 You shall hocus his drink and put him on board. |
Hence ˈhocussed ppl. a., ˈhocussing vbl. n.; also ˈhocusser, one who hocusses.
| 1827–39 De Quincey Murder Postscr. Wks. IV. 107 The landlord..they intended to disable by a trick then newly introduced amongst robbers, and termed hocussing. 1862 Mayhew Lond. Labour IV. 31 The ‘Drummer’ plunders by stupefaction; as the ‘hocusser’. 1865 Dickens Mut. Fr. ii. xii, I will not say a hocussed wine. 1892 Middleton Rome II. 53 The bribing of jockeys and the ‘hocussing’ of horses and their drivers were familiar to the ancient Romans. |