trick or treatint.n.
/ˌtrɪk ɔː ˈtriːt/, U.S. /ˌtrɪk ər ˈtrit/, /ˈtrɪk ər ˌtrit/, Canadian English /ˌtrɪk ər ˈtrit/ Originally North American.
A. int.
Used by children to ask for sweets or candy when going from door to door at Halloween, typically while wearing themed costumes.Originally and sometimes with the implication that anyone who is asked and who does not provide sweets or other treats will be subjected to a prank or practical joke.The practice of using trick or treat to ask for sweets and other treats at Halloween seems to have arisen in the Prairie Provinces of Canada in the 1920s, before spreading into the northern and western United States in the 1930s and across the rest of the United States through the 1940s and early 1950s. Since the 1980s, this and related phrases have increased in popularity outside of North America, along with American-style Halloween celebrations generally.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > children's game > other children's games > formulae used in specific games [interjection]
itisket itasket1926
trick or treat1927
1927 Calgary (Alberta) Daily Herald 3 Nov. 22/4 [Referring to Halloween in Blackie, Alberta.] The very young..wandered in droves from door to door, heavily disguised and demanding ‘trick or treat.’ To treat was to be untricked.
1938 Los Angeles Times 30 Oct. ii. 8/2 ‘Trick or treat?’ is the terse command as the householder peeks warily around the door. ‘If you don't give us something, we'll play a trick on you.’
1982 Harper's June 72/1 [Referring to Halloween.] When I first moved into the house in New York, little children would ring the bell, shouting, ‘trick or treat.’
2008 L. Goldberg Mr. Monk in Trouble i. 14 Two little kids..stood on his doorstep dressed as a ghost and a mummy... ‘Trick or treat,’ the ghost said, and held out her bag of candy.
B. n.
The practice, usually by children, of going from door to door at Halloween to ask for sweets or candy by saying ‘trick or treat’, typically while wearing themed costumes; trick-or-treating.Recorded earliest as a modifier; cf. Compounds 1.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > children's game > other children's games > [noun] > others
buckle-pit1532
marrowbone1533
put-pin?1577
primus secundus1584
fox in the hole1585
haltering of Hick's mare1585
muss1591
pushpin1598
Jack-in-the-box1600
a penny in the forehead1602
buckerels1649
bumdockdousse1653
peck-point1653
toro1660
wheelbarrow1740
thread-needle1751
thrush-a-thrush1766
runaway ring?1790
Gregory1801
pick-point1801
fighting cocks1807
runaway knock1813
tit-tat-toe1818
French and English1820
honeypots1821
roly-poly1821
tickle-tail1821
pottle1822
King of Cantland1825
tip-top-castle1834
tile1837
statue1839
chip stone1843
hen and chickens1843
king of the castle1843
King Caesar1849
rap-jacket1870
old witch1881
tick-tack-toe1884
twos and threes1896
last across (the road)1904
step1909
king of the hill1928
Pooh-sticks1928
trick or treat1928
stare-you-out1932
king of the mountain1933
dab cricket1938
Urkey1938
trick-or-treating1941
seven-up1950
squashed tomato1959
slot-racing1965
Pog1993
knights-
1928 Red Deer (Alberta) Advocate 25 Oct. 12/6 (advt.) Halloween candy specials... Trick-or-treat candy—give them a better candy at the same price.
1937 Calgary Herald 30 Oct. (Mag. section) 23/5 Mother will have stacked the larder with apples, peanuts, popcorn, candy and cookies, prepared to give ransom in the time honored custom of ‘trick or treat’.
1938 Los Angeles Times 30 Oct. ii. 8/2 ‘Trick or treat!’ is the Halloween hijacking game hundreds of Southern Californian youngsters will play tomorrow night as they practice streamlined versions of traditional Allhallows Eve pranks.
1966 Courier-Post (Camden, New Jersey) 29 Oct. 18/5 I like children to have fun but trick or treat has become so widespread that it has got out of hand for the average treater.
2012 @rabbipete 31 Oct. in twitter.com (accessed 24 Sept. 2020) Everyone's out knocking on doors for trick or treat but no one answers the door because they're all out doing trick or treat #halloween.
Compounds
C1. As a modifier, with the sense ‘of, for, or relating to trick or treat’, as in trick-or-treat bag, trick-or-treat candy, trick-or-treat costume, etc.
ΚΠ
1928 Red Deer (Alberta) Advocate 25 Oct. 12/6 Halloween candy specials... Trick-or-treat candy—give them a better candy at the same price.
1954 Sun (Baltimore) 22 Oct. 18/4 Now that the ‘Trick or Treat’ season is upon us, let us hope that thoughtful parents will discourage the practice.
1963 Pop. Mech. Oct. 158 (heading) Trick or treat costumes. Six scarey outfits to wear on Hallowe'en.
1982 Daily Tel. 29 Oct. 3/1 A tradition of allowing children out on Halloween ‘trick-or-treat’ expeditions.
2009 D. Waters Kiss of Life (e-book ed.) ii He limped up the stairs with a big plastic trick-or-treat bag that had a garish jack-o'-lantern blazing beneath a green and warty witch.
C2.
trick-or-treat night n. an evening on which trick-or-treating takes place, esp. Halloween.
ΚΠ
1940 Spokesman-Rev. (Spokane, Washington) 25 Oct. 8/7 Next Thursday is ‘Trick-or-Treat’ night! Cooke's has the candies for the treat..! Clever new Halloween favors, too!
1968 Indiana (Pa.) Evening Gaz. 11 Oct. 4/4 Mayor John F. Larkin has established the nights of Oct. 25, 26, and 28 as trick or treat nights in Blairsville.
2007 M. Evanick Mistletoe Bay i. 22 Remember, it's only a Halloween costume... I told you even adults sometimes dress up for trick-or-treat night.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2020; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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int.n.1927