psych

1

or psyche

[ sahyk ]
/ saɪk /

verb (used with object) Informal.

to intimidate or frighten psychologically, or make nervous (often followed by out): to psych out the competition.
to prepare psychologically to be in the right frame of mind or to give one's best (often followed by up): to psych oneself up for an interview.
to figure out psychologically; decipher (often followed by out): to psych out a problem.

Origin of psych

1
1915–20 in earlier sense “to subject to psychoanalysis”; originally a shortening of psychoanalyze; in later use (especially in defs 1, 2) perhaps independent use of psych-

Words nearby psych

Definition for psych (2 of 4)

psych 2
[ sahyk ]
/ saɪk /

noun Informal.

psychology, especially as a course or field of study: She took two semesters of psych in college.

Origin of psych

2
First recorded in 1890–95; by shortening

Definition for psych (3 of 4)

psych-

variant of psycho- before some vowels: psychasthenia.

Definition for psych (4 of 4)

Example sentences from the Web for psych

British Dictionary definitions for psych

psych

psyche

/ (saɪk) /

verb

(tr) informal to psychoanalyse See also psych out, psych up

Word Origin for psych

C20: shortened from psychoanalyse

Medical definitions for psych

psych-

pref.

Variant ofpsycho-