Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. a period of work, usu. one that is physically demanding or unpleasant.

1840		R.H. Dana Two Years before the Mast (1992) 42: That night it was my turn to steer, or, as the sailors say, my trick at the helm for two hours.
1889		Press (N.Y.) 17 Apr. 6/3: Captain John Gunner [...] was doing his ‘trick’ at Police Headquarters the other night, when a PRESS reporter dropped in.
1902		J. Masefield ‘Sea-Fever’ in Salt-Water Ballads 69: All I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover, / And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick’s over.
1914		Bulletin (Sydney) 29 Oct. 24/1: Says he to me, as I took my trick: / ‘Keep her so, sonny!’ / Was the skipper drunk, or was he sick? / Nor’-west by North, there!
1934		D. Hammett ‘Two Sharp Knives’ in Nightmare Town (2001) 184: Send Mason home to get some sleep. he’ll have to take over Wally’s night trick.
1945		J. Hoyt Cummings Fatal Pay-off 48: For the past few years he had worked the night trick while his brother, recently drafted into the Army, ran the stand in the daytime.
1953		J. O’Hara lecture in Bruccoli An Artist Is His Own Fault (1977) 80: [T]hey are not forced to find the time [to write fiction], say after doing a trick on rewrite or the copy desk.
1969		J. Crumley One to Count Cadence (1987) 48: Most of the vop was quite good for the day-trick.
1971		R.D. Pharr S.R.O. (1998) 394: Gloria usually complete her nightly trick [i.e. as a call girl] before four in the morning.
1977		D. Powis Signs of Crime 205: Trick [...] (b) Unpleasant or demanding period of work, usually of short duration, for example: ‘I’ve done my trick (at the wheel of a car or cab) and now it’s your turn.’.

2. any period spent within an institution, e.g. a hospital.

1899–1900

C.L. Cullen Tales of the Ex-Tanks 224: The usual ten-day trick in the you-have-them ward.

3. (US) a prison sentence.

1899–1900		C.L. Cullen Tales of the Ex-Tanks 196: They’ve nabbed me for a job of ship-swiping [...] I’ll do my little three or five trick over the road for it.
1918		H. Simon ‘Prison Dict.’ in AS VIII:3 (1933) 32/2: TRICK. A prison term.
1930		G. Milburn ‘Toledo Slim’ in Hobo’s Hornbook 196: I thought my girl would stick / And keep the flat a-going while I did my little trick.
1949		Monteleone Criminal Sl. (rev. edn) 70: do a trick To serve a term in prison.
1950		Goldin et al. DAUL 226/2: Trick. [...] 2. (Central and mid-Western States; rare) A term served in a prison, reformatory, or penitentiary.
1965		B. Jackson Get Your Ass in the Water (1974) 132: I didn’t worry, I thought my broad would stick / and keep my flat a-runnin’ while I done my little trick.
1992		Bentley & Corbett Prison Sl. 24: Stretch Time spent in prison [...] (Archaic: piece, ride, trick).

4. (US) a term of service, e.g. in the army, on a ship.

1907

D. Runyon ‘The Defence of Strikerville’ in From First To Last (1954) 12: We all see another three-year trick sticking up.

5. a situation one dislikes.

1916		T.A. Dorgan Indoor Sports 9 Mar. [synd. cartoon] (Listening to the author give his first reading of the play to the cast) I’m gonna blow this trick quick.
1969		H. Rap Brown Die, Nigger Die! 23: I wasn’t willing to get caught in another trick that eventually led to long sentences in jail or ending up in the gutter one night with a knife in your back.
1970		W.G. Smith Return to Black America 82: But the trick is that in the U.S. we have only two parties and inside each party you have people with varied political interests.

6. an organization.

1920

T. Thursday ‘Missed in Missouri’ in Top-Notch 15 May 🌐 They thought that J. Twaddle Hemm, the general agent, had pulled a bum joke on the whole trick.