trick or treat
Costumed children's demand
Trick or treat is what children say when going door to door on Halloween, requesting candy with the implicit (and rarely executed) threat of mischief if refused.
The phrase also names the activity itself: We're taking the kids trick-or-treating.
As a greeting, it's become purely formulaic—the "trick" option exists only in theory.
- askingPosing questions
- ghostApparition of the dead
- pumpkinLarge orange autumn gourd
- jack o lanternCarved illuminated pumpkin
- pillowcaseFabric cover for bedding
mask · costumes · costume party · knock · candy · fun size · shadowy figures · bucket · October · request · doorbell · porch light · Halloween · chocolate · tradition · porch · boo · cobwebs
- Childhood memoriesSaturday cartoons, lunchbox, recess, sleepovers, tree house
- childhood traditionsbedtime stories, bedtime story, birthday parties, birthday party, birthdays
- costume eventscostume party, masquerade, masquerade ball, costume ball, Halloween party
- Halloweenjack-o-lantern, haunted mansion, pumpkin, ghost, costumes
- holiday traditionsChristmas, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Easter, New Year
- American traditionsFourth of July, Thanksgiving, county fair, state fair, rodeo
holiday tradition type
trick or treatcaroling
Festive neighborhood singing
wassailing · Easter egg hunt · Thanksgiving dinner · haunted house
treat, trick, tricky, treaty, treatment, trickery, tricked, mistreat, trickster