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mischief

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Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionarymis·chief \ˈmis-chəf, ˈmish-\ noun ETYMOLOGY Middle English meschief, from Anglo-French, misfortune, hardship, from Old French meschever to come out badly, mes- + chief head, end — more at chief DATE 14th century1. a specific injury or damage attributed to a particular agent2. a cause or source of harm, evil, or irritation; especially : a person who causes mischief3. a. action that annoys or irritates b. the quality or state of being mischievous : mischievousness had mischief in his eyesEnglish Etymologymischief c.1300, "evil condition, misfortune, need, want," from O.Frhttp://O.Fr.meschief (Fr. méchef), verbal noun from meschever "come or bring to grief, be unfortunate" (opposite of achieve), from mes-"badly" (see mis- (2)) + chever "happen, come to a head," from V.L. *capare "head," from L. caput "head" (see head). Meaning "harm or evil considered as the work of some agent or due to some cause" is from late 15c. Sense of "playful malice" first recorded 1784. Mischief Night in 19c. England was the eve of May Day and of Nov. 5, both major holidays, and perhaps the original point was pilfering for the next day's celebration and bonfire; but in Yorkshire, Scotland, and Ireland the night was Halloween. The useful M.E. verb mischieve (early 14c.) has, for some reason, fallen from currency.Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary-牛津双解-OALD7mischiefmis·chief / 5mistFif / noun[U] 1. bad behaviour (especially of children) that is annoying but does not cause any serious damage or harm 淘气；恶作剧；顽皮: Those children are always getting into mischief. 那些孩子总是淘气。 I try to keep out of mischief. 我尽量避免遭人戏弄。 It's very quiet upstairs; they must be up to some mischief ! 楼上很安静。他们一定在搞什么恶作剧。 2. the wish or tendency to behave or play in a way that causes trouble 恶意；使坏的念头: Her eyes were full of mischief. 她眼睛里满是使坏的神情。 3. (formal) harm or injury that is done to sb or to their reputation 伤害；毁损: The incident caused a great deal of political mischief. 这一事件造成了严重的政治危害。 IDIOMS ▪ 7do yourself a 'mischief (BrE, informal) to hurt yourself physically 伤害自己的身体: Watch how you use those scissors—you could do yourself a mischief! 看你那是怎么用剪刀啊——你会伤着自己的！ ▪ make 'mischief to do or say sth deliberately to upset other people, or cause trouble between them 搬弄是非；挑拨离间Oxford Collocations Dictionary for Students of EnglishOxford Collocations dictionary for students of Englishmischief noun QUANT. glint, hint There was a glint of mischief in her eyes. VERB + MISCHIEF cause, do, make Such people will do anything they can to make mischief. | get into/up to Don't get up to any mischief while we're out. | keep/stay out of Try to stay out of mischief, will you? Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Thesaurus-11th Editionn. Function: noun 1 Synonyms: INJURY 1, damage, harm, hurt, outrage, ruin Related Words: difficulty, hardship, trouble 2 Synonyms: SCAMP, devil, enfant terrible, limb, rapscallion, rascal, rogue, scalawag, skeezicks, villain 3 Synonyms: MISCHIEVOUSNESS, devilment, devilry, deviltry, diablerie, roguery, roguishness, sportiveness, waggery, waggishness 4 Synonyms: DISCORD, conflict, contention, difference, disaccord, dissension, dissent, division, strife, varianceWebster's Third New International Dictionary, UnabridgedSearch result show the entry is found in: malicious mischief , or mischief-makermis·chiefI. \ˈmis(h)chə̇f\ noun(-s)Etymology: Middle English meschief, mischef, from Old French meschief calamity, misfortune, from mes- mis- (I) + chef, chief end, head — more at chief1. obsolete : calamity : misfortune < to mourn a mischief that is past and gone is the next way to draw new mischief on — Shakespeare >2. a. : a specific injury or damage caused by a person or other agency < will never forget the mischiefs they have done to us > < the polished floor … often causes mischiefs — bruises, sprains, dislocations — Herbert Spencer > b. : harm, evil, or damage that results from a particular agency or cause < one failure led to another, suspicion became general, and the mischief was done — J.A.Todd > < the concealment of a truth, with its resultant false beliefs, must produce mischief — G.B.Shaw >3. : a diseased condition : a cause of sickness < the mischief is out of your system, and all you have to do is to build your system up — John Buchan >4. a. : a cause or source of harm, evil, or irritation; especially : a person who causes mischief < housing in rocks, of mariners the mischief — Robert Browning > < he's a real mischief to his family > b. : the aspect of a situation or the quality of a thing that produces harm or causes irritation < the mischief of snow is that it turns to slush > < the mischief is that people … do not confine themselves to one cocktail — Arnold Bennett >5. : devil < an accident that played the mischief with his plans > < can't see why in the mischief you ever got mixed up with that reform gang — Willa Cather >6. a. : action or conduct that annoys or irritates wihout causing or meaning to cause serious harm < little wretches, always up to some mischief … all bedraggled from some roguery — Virginia Woolf > < a seasonal ritual among Rochester's youth, like today's Halloween mischiefs — S.H.Adams > b. : mischievousness < inclined to mischief rather than malice — American Guide Series: Arizona > < a defiance, offered from sheer, youthful, wanton mischief — Arnold Bennett >7. : discord, dissension < has often made mischief between husband and wife > < stirred up mischief between the young people >Synonyms: see injuryII. transitive verb(-ed/-ing/-s)Etymology: Middle English mischefen, from mischef, n.: to do harm to : injure < that … tyrant that mischiefs the world with his mines of Ophir — John Milton > < any of the other boys … they would have mischiefed, but they just tweaked Peter's nose — J.M.Barrie >

Mischief A The From Noun Harm Synonyms Damage