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mischief

American  
[mis-chif] / ˈmɪs tʃɪf /

noun

  1. conduct or activity that playfully causes petty annoyance.

  2. a tendency or disposition to tease, vex, or annoy.

  3. a vexatious or annoying action.

  4. harm or trouble, especially as a result of an agent or cause.

    Synonyms:
    hurt

  5. an injury or evil caused by a person or other agent or cause.

  6. a cause or source of harm, evil, or annoyance.

  7. the devil.

mischief British  
/ ˈmɪstʃɪf /

noun

  1. wayward but not malicious behaviour, usually of children, that causes trouble, irritation, etc

  2. a playful inclination to behave in this way or to tease or disturb

  3. injury or harm caused by a person or thing

  4. a person, esp a child, who is mischievous

  5. a source of trouble, difficulty, etc

    floods are a great mischief to the farmer
"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
mischief Idioms  

  1. see make mischief.

Related Words

See damage.

Etymology

Origin of mischief

1250–1300; Middle English meschef < Old French, noun derivative of meschever to end badly, come to grief. See mis- 1, achieve

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.