psych

1. abbreviationattributiveclippinginformaloftenuncountablehuman sciencesClipping of psychiatry.
   1. attributiveinformaloftenuncountablehuman sciencesA psychiatric hospital or other treatment facility; also, a psychiatric department or ward in such a facility.

      He had to be involuntarily committed to the psych ward.

      3 more examples

      A fool who had never seen reality would think an old lady is harmless or weak. Perhaps the morons in the outside world believe an old lady locked-up in psych is akin to a sweet little grandmother, a poor old dear who is just a little confused. Such a fool does not understand the truth of some psychiatric "patients" or the reality of how that type of "patient" can de-compensate suddenly, oftentimes with no warning, and go berserk on another "patient" or on a BHT with super-human like strength so much like a person in the old movies who is hopped up on PCP.

      2014 August 15, Desha Blue, “News 2013”, in Psychiatric Abuse Poetry …: Shattering the Bloody Glass Ceiling, [Bloomington, Ind.]: Xlibris, →ISBN

      "I couldn't stay in the psych. I had to get out, before Rudolf got to me. He is alive; he set me up," I tell him, looking around, and trying to figure out why I'm not in prison or at the police station.

      2016 March 6, Joanna Mazurkiewicz, “Detective Lee”, in Skimming the Surface (Love & Hate; 4), [United States]: Joanna Mazurkiewicz, published 2020, →ISBN

      I still stood by my assessment that she should've checked into psych. Body dysmorphia was one thing but actually believing Barbie was a real person walking among us? That was a little too much.

      2025 June 30, Lexy Timms, “Clay”, in Not Another Love Story, part 2, [United States]: Dark Shadow Publishing, →ISBN

2. abbreviationattributiveclippinginformaloftenuncountablehuman sciencesClipping of psychology.

   I took psych in my freshman year at college.

plural psychs · alternative psyche

1. abbreviationattributiveclippinginformaloftenhuman sciencesClipping of psychiatrist.

   [S]he had had what she declared was a momentous series of meetings with [Sigmund] Freud in Vienna. She had attended a conference of psychs at which he had presided and they had taken a fancy to each other.

   1978, Lawrence Durrell, “Talking Back”, in Livia: Or Buried Alive […] ([The Avignon Quintet; 2]), London; Boston, Mass.: Faber and Faber, →ISBN, page 178

2. abbreviationattributiveclippinginformaloftenhuman sciencesClipping of psychologist; also, a clipping of psychoanalyst.

present singular third person psychs · participle present psyching · participle past psyched · past psyched

1. abbreviationattributiveclippinginformaloftentransitivehuman sciencesClipping of psychoanalyse (“to treat (someone) using psychoanalysis”); also, to carry out psychological testing on (someone).

   Prisoners brought from all the lockups in the city were unloaded here. […] They trooped in to be psyched, social-worked, assigned to cells.

   1982, Saul Bellow, chapter X, in The Dean’s December […], New York, N.Y.: Harper & Row, →ISBN, page 202

2. attributivebroadlyinformaloftentransitiveChiefly followed by out: to analyse (something), especially psychologically; also (generally), to work out (something).

present singular third person psychs · participle present psyching · participle past psyched · past psyched · alternative psyche · alternative sike · alternative syke

1. alsoattributiveinformaloftenreflexivetransitiveOften followed by out: to deceive, intimidate, or otherwise manipulate (someone or oneself) emotionally or using psychology.
2. alsoattributiveinformaloftenreflexivetransitiveOften followed by up: to put (someone or oneself) into a mental or psychological state where one is ready for some (often challenging) experience; specifically, to make (someone or oneself) enthusiastic or excited about something.

   Hip hop always gets me psyched, so I put it on before a race.

   1 more example

   On the stage, what we have to try to have shine through is our love for each other. Sometimes it's difficult, we have to try to psych ourselves out of the places we're at and go to a higher spiritual plane.

   1979 August 18, Susan Shanbaum, quotee, “The Diversity of Women’s Music: Berkeley Women’s Music Collective”, in Gay Community News, volume 7, number 5, Boston, Mass.: The Bromfield Street Educational Foundation, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 13, column 3

3. attributiveinformalintransitiveoftentransitiveOf a person: to get into a mental or psychological state where one is ready for some (often challenging) experience; specifically, to make oneself enthusiastic or excited about something.
4. USattributiveinformalintransitiveoftentransitiveFollowed by out: to become mentally confused or disturbed.

1. attributiveinformaloftenslangtransitiveUsed to indicate jokingly that a statement which one has made was false and that one has successfully fooled the person whom one is speaking to; just kidding!, not!, tricked you!

   Here, have fifty dollars. Psych! That was two dollars!

   1 more example

   I broke up with my girlfriend. Here’s her number. Psych! That’s the wrong number!

2. attributiveinformaloftenslangtransitiveUsed to express surprised happiness; wow!

   Psych! I just found my missing bracelet!

   Synonyms: adzooks, ay, caramba, mirabile dictu, chihuahua, begorra, bleeding heck, bleeding Nora

plural psyches · alternative psyche

1. abbreviationattributiveclippinginformaloftenrareslangtransitiveClipping of psychic (“a person who possesses, or appears to possess, extra-sensory abilities such as clairvoyance, precognition, and telepathy, or who appears to be susceptible to paranormal or supernatural influences”).
2. abbreviationattributiveclippinginformaloftenslangtransitivebridgeClipping of psychic or psychic bid (“a bid intended to mislead opponents by giving a false impression about one's hand of playing cards”).

present singular third person psychs · participle present psyching · participle past psyched · past psyched · alternative psyche

1. attributiveinformaloftenslangtransitivebridgeTo make (a bid) intended to mislead opponents by giving a false impression about one's hand of playing cards.
2. attributiveinformaloftenslangtransitivebridgeTo deceive (an opponent or opponents) with such a psychic bid.
3. attributiveinformalintransitiveoftenslangtransitivebridgeTo make a bid intended to mislead opponents by giving a false impression about one's hand of playing cards; to make a psychic bid.

comparative more psych · superlative most psych · alternative psyche

1. abbreviationattributiveclippinginformaloftenslangtransitivebridgeClipping of psychedelic (“of, containing, generating, or reminiscent of drug-induced altered awareness, distortions of perception, hallucinations, etc.”).

   curtains with psych colours    psych-rock

2. attributiveinformaloftenslangtransitivebridgeOf or relating to psychedelic rock music.

   a psych album    a psych band

1. abbreviationattributiveclippinginformaloftenslangtransitiveuncountablebridgeClipping of psychedelic rock (“a genre of rock music influenced by psychedelia, blues, electronic music, folk music, jazz, and the hippie counterculture of the 1960s”).