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n. 1. a. The art or practice of using charms, spells, or rituals to attempt to produce supernatural effects or control events in nature. b. The charms, spells, and rituals so used. 2. The exercise of sleight of hand or conjuring, as in making something seem to disappear, for entertainment. 3. A mysterious quality of enchantment: "For me the names of those men breathed the magic of the past" (Max Beerbohm). adj. 1. Of, relating to, or invoking the supernatural: "stubborn unlaid ghost / That breaks his magic chains at curfew time" (John Milton). 2. Possessing distinctive qualities that produce unaccountable or baffling effects. tr.v. mag·icked, mag·ick·ing, mag·ics 1. To produce, alter, or cause by or as if by magic: "Intelligent warm-hearted Gertrude had magicked him into happiness" (Iris Murdoch). 2. To cause to disappear by or as if by magic. Used with away: His shoes had been magicked away in the night. [Middle English magik, from Old French magique, from Late Latin magica, from Latin magicē, from Greek magikē, from feminine of magikos, of the Magi, magical, from magos, magician, magus; see MAGUS.] |
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