Summary: Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 22, 2013 is: euchre \YOO-ker\ verb 1 : to prevent from winning three tricks in the card game euchre 2 : to cheat or trick Examples: "'You fooled us good,' Frank confessed. 'After Northfield, Jesse knew we'd been euchred somehow. But I wouldn't have suspected you in a thousand years.'" From Matt Braun's 2008 novel Manhunter / Deadwood "He'd never held a pick or shovel in those waxy white hands. His principal business was euchring anyone who was sucker enough to do business with him." From Richard S. Wheeler's 2005 novel Seven Miles to Sundown Did you know? Euchre is a card game for four players that is played in tricks, or rounds, with a deck of 32 cards. Etymologists aren't sure where we got the name for the game, though they do know that it first appeared in English in the mid-19th century. The first sense of the verb "euchre" arose from an action that takes place during the game: a player is "euchred" when an opponent blocks him or her from winning three or more tricks after making trump. Deception can often be key to a winning strategy, and sure enough it took almost no time at all for "euchre" to develop a sense meaning "cheat" or "trick."
