Meaning of pull a fast one | Babel Free

Definitions

To carry out a trick or act of deception; to behave contrary to expectations.

idiomatic, often, slang

Equivalents

Examples

“This isn't worth anything like what you paid them. I think they pulled a fast one on you.”

“I haven't forgotten the way you tried to pull a fast one over me when you first came here—over the Jaintiapur plantation that I had wanted for some time.”

“President Bush today made his most aggressive assault yet on Gov. Bill Clinton, asserting that the Democratic nominee would "pull a fast one on the American people" and raise taxes by hundreds of billions of dollars.”

“The man known as Chainsaw Al pulled a fast one last week, buying three companies when everyone assumed he would be selling his own.”

“7. Claimants are pulling a fast one. No. Less than 1% of the welfare budget is lost to fraud.”

“But then came Jan. 6, when I watched my Ivy League-educated senator, Ted Cruz, try to pull yet another fast one on the American people as he fought — not long before the certification process was disrupted by a mob of Trump supporters storming the Capitol and forcing their way into the Senate chamber — to challenge the election results.”

“The chap opposite seems to be trying to pull a fast one, and having seen the guard is trying to buy a ticket online... but doesn't succeed. The guard helpfully sells him one, but not quite at the price of one purchased in advance. In fairness he doesn't kick off, nor does the guard treat him like some common criminal. It's a fair cop - or should that be a fare cop?”

CEFR level