every trick in the book

English

Noun

every trick in the book

1. All possible knowledge of a subject matter.

   He was always one step ahead of me, as he seems to know every trick in the book.

2. All possible means, both honest and dishonest.

   The solicitor tried every trick in the book to get me to sign the contract, but I wasn't having any of it!

   • 2024 January 24, Dyan Perry talks to Nick Brodrick, “The industry has given me so much”, in RAIL, number 1001, page 44:

     "Eurostar was running one train a day, so we had a massive revenue shock, and what was very real for us was the whole of our cashflow model changed. We didn't have the revenue, so we to pull every liquidity method and trick in the book to survive. You didn't have to do that on the rest of the network [because of government financial support].

Usage notes

• Sense 1 collocates mainly with verbs of knowledge, most commonly with know.
• Sense 2 collocates mainly with verbs such as use, and try.