con

verb

1. (rare)To study or examine carefully, especially in order to gain knowledge of; to learn, or learn by heart.

   “For Caſſius is a-weary of the World: / Hated by one he loues, brau'd by his Brother, / Check'd like a bondman, all his faults obſeru'd, / Set in a Note-booke, learn'd, and con'd by roate / To caſt into my Teeth.”

   “At length, himself unsettling, he the pond / Stirred with his staff, and fixedly did look / Upon the muddy water, which he conned, / As if he had been reading in a book”

   “I did not come into parliament to con my lesson. I had earned my pension before I set my foot in St. Stephen's chapel.”

   “During these delectable entertainments, Miss Wirt and the chaperon sate by, and conned over the peerage, and talked about the nobility.”

   “He read old almanacs at the book-stalls on the quays, and he began to frequent another café, where more newspapers were taken and his post-prandial demi-tasse cost him a penny extra, and where he used to con the tattered sheets for curious anecdotes, freaks of nature, and strange coincidences.”

2. (obsolete, rare)To know; understand; acknowledge.

   “Of Muses Hobbinol, I conne no skill”

3. (informal, transitive)To trick, lie or defraud, usually for personal gain.

   “Neoliberalism has conned us into fighting climate change as individuals [title]”

   “Taiwan man soaks feet in dry ice for 10 hours to con insurance firms, causing amputation […] A man in Taiwan shocked the internet after attempting to defraud five insurance companies by immersing his feet in a bucket of dry ice for 10 hours, resulting in the amputation of both feet.”

4. (alt-of, alternative)Alternative form of conn (“direct a ship”).

noun

1. A disadvantage of something, especially when contrasted with its advantages (pros).

   “pros and cons”

2. (slang)A convicted criminal, a convict.
3. (informal)A fraud; something carried out with the intention of deceiving, usually for personal, often illegal, gain.

   “My heart is breaking for my sister And the con that she called "love"”

   “Leavers will be attracted to that story because it spares them the discomfort of admitting that they voted for a con, and then made a prime minister of the con artist.”

4. (alt-of, alternative, uncountable)Alternative form of conn (“navigational direction of a ship”).
5. (informal)An organized gathering, such as a convention, conference, or congress.

   “I can't speak for Faye as ed of FHAPA, but it would be really swell of someone could send us a set of Intersection daily newszines, plus any con flyers or other fannish papers that were there to had for the picking up: fannish things, you know, not including media, gaming, filking or costuming, fine fun but not my cup of blog, thank you.”

6. (informal)The conversion of part of a building.

   “We're getting a loft con done next year.”

7. (informal, obsolete, uncountable)Consumption; pulmonary tuberculosis.
8. (dialectal, obsolete)Squirrel, particularly the red squirrel.
9. (Northern-England, obsolete)A squirrel's nest.
10. (abbreviation)A political conservative.

    “own the cons”

11. (abbreviation, alt-of, no-plural)Abbreviation of consolidation: only used in naming.
12. (abbreviation, alt-of, initialism)Initialism of Certificate of Need.
13. (abbreviation, alt-of, initialism)Initialism of constitution point.

adj

1. (abbreviation, alt-of, not-comparable)Abbreviation of consolidated: only used in naming.

name

1. A male given name, a diminutive form of Conor or Cornelius.
2. A female given name, a diminutive form of Connie.
3. (UK, abbreviation, alt-of)Abbreviation of Conservative.
4. (UK, abbreviation, alt-of)Abbreviation of Conservative Party.