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# hoax

noun (a hoax, hoaxes); verb (hoax, hoaxes, hoaxed, hoaxing)

«hoax» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. A hoax is a trick that makes many people believe something that is not true, such as a fake story, picture or warning. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hoax/#m1)
2. To hoax people means to trick them in this way. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hoax/#m2)

### In the lessons

In everyday life and safety hoaxes spread online (fake news, fake warnings, chain messages); pupils learn to check sources before believing or sharing. A hoax call to the emergency services is a crime because it wastes help that others need. In stories a hoax can be a prank or a mystery to solve. Phrases: «a hoax call», «a hoax email», «it turned out to be a hoax».

### Examples

- The photo of the giant shark turned out to be a hoax. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hoax/#x1)
- Making a hoax call to 999 or 911 is against the law. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hoax/#x2)
- The message saying the school would close was a hoax. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hoax/#x3)
- Before you share a story online, check it is not a hoax. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hoax/#x4)
- The crop circles were a hoax made by two men with planks. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hoax/#x5)
- They hoaxed the whole town with a fake monster sighting. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hoax/#x6)
- The detective soon realised the ransom note was a hoax. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hoax/#x7)
- April Fools' Day hoaxes are meant to be funny, not harmful. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hoax/#x8)
- He did this more than once, and every time the villagers found they had been hoaxed, for there was no Wolf at all. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hoax/#x9)

### Note

Plural «hoaxes». A hoax is bigger than a simple lie: it is planned to fool many people. Related: «prank» (a playful trick), «scam» (a trick to take money). A «hoaxer» is the person who makes one.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «hoax» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hoax/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«hoax» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/hoax.html) on Mova free.