Pious fraud

Fraud \Fraud\ (fr[add]d), n. [F. fraude, L. fraus, fraudis;
   prob. akin to Skr. dh[=u]rv to injure, dhv[.r] to cause to
   fall, and E. dull.]
   1. Deception deliberately practiced with a view to gaining an
      unlawful or unfair advantage; artifice by which the right
      or interest of another is injured; injurious stratagem;
      deceit; trick.
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            If success a lover's toil attends,
            Few ask, if fraud or force attained his ends.
                                                  --Pope.
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   2. (Law) An intentional perversion of truth for the purpose
      of obtaining some valuable thing or promise from another.
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   3. A trap or snare. [Obs.]
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            To draw the proud King Ahab into fraud. --Milton.
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   {Constructive fraud} (Law), an act, statement, or omission
      which operates as a fraud, although perhaps not intended
      to be such. --Mozley & W.

   {Pious fraud} (Ch. Hist.), a fraud contrived and executed to
      benefit the church or accomplish some good end, upon the
      theory that the end justified the means.

   {Statute of frauds} (Law), an English statute (1676), the
      principle of which is incorporated in the legislation of
      all the States of this country, by which writing with
      specific solemnities (varying in the several statutes) is
      required to give efficacy to certain dispositions of
      property. --Wharton.

   Syn: Deception; deceit; guile; craft; wile; sham; strife;
        circumvention; stratagem; trick; imposition; cheat. See
        {Deception}.
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