psych-out

[sahyk-out] /ˈsaɪkˌaʊt/
noun, Informal.
1.
an act or instance of psyching out.
Origin
1960-65; noun use of verb phrase psych out

psych1

[sahyk] /saɪk/
verb (used with object), Informal.
1.
to intimidate or frighten psychologically, or make nervous (often followed by out):
to psych out the competition.
2.
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.
3.
to figure out psychologically; decipher (often followed by out):
to psych out a problem.
Also, psyche.
Origin
1915-20 in earlier sense “to subject to psychoanalysis”; originally a shortening of psychoanalyze; in later use (especially in defs. 1 and 2) perhaps independent use of psych-
British Dictionary definitions for psych out

psych out

verb (mainly transitive, adverb) (informal)
1.
to guess correctly the intentions of (another); outguess
2.
to analyse or solve (a problem, etc) psychologically
3.
to intimidate or frighten
4.
(intransitive, adverb) to lose control psychologically; break down

psych

/saɪk/
verb
1.
(transitive) (informal) to psychoanalyse See also psych out, psych up
Word Origin
C20: shortened from psychoanalyse
Word Origin and History for psych out

psych

as a noun, short for psychology in various senses (e.g. as an academic study, in student slang by 1895). As a verb, first attested 1917 as "to subject to psychoanalysis," short for psychoanalyze. From 1934 as "to outsmart" (also psych out); from 1963 as "to unnerve." However to psych (oneself) up is from 1972; to be psyched up is attested from 1968.

Slang definitions & phrases for psych out

psych

modifier

Psychiatry; psychiatric: makes it down from the psych ward on the 15th floor (1940s+)

noun

Psychology, esp as an academic study (1895+ College students)

verb
  1. (also psych out) To outsmart another person: The bastards psyched me (1934+ College students)
  2. To sense or infer the motives, behavior, etc, of others; feel out a situation: an uncanny ability to ''psych out'' audiences and make them love her (1961+)
  3. To unnerve someone; cause someone to lose composure, will, skill, etc: He won't psych me as he did her (1960s+)

Related Abbreviations for psych out

psych

psychoanalyze
Idioms and Phrases with psych out

psych out

.
Analyze or understand something; also, anticipate the intentions of someone, as in It's hard to psych out the opposition's thinking, but we have to try.
.
Undermine the confidence of, intimidate. For example, The basketball team managed to psych out their opponents' guards. This expression is often used in the passive and can mean “lose one's nerve,” as in After I learned that he had two doctorates in the field, I was completely psyched out. Both slangy usages date from the second half of the 1900s and allude to influencing someone psychologically.