1(1874–1926), US magician and escape artist; born in Hungary; born Erik Weisz. In the early 1900s, he became known for his ability to escape from all kinds of bonds and containers, from prison cells to aerially suspended straitjackets.

1. 1.1as noun a Houdini A person skilled at escaping.
   you're a regular Houdini

   Example sentencesExamples

   • The man's a regular Houdini!
   • People call him a ‘lucky’ Prime Minister, and if they mean that, Houdini like, he gets out of tight corners, like the knife-edge vote on university top-up fees, then they're right.
   • And he's a regular Houdini. He can get out of that thing in just a few minutes.
   • Houdini to the end, he'll leave office more popular than ever.
2. 1.2as noun a Houdini An ingenious escape.
   he will have to do a Houdini to escape from me

   Example sentencesExamples

   • Elizabeth's BFF constantly pulls a Houdini, disappearing on some adventure or another.
   • We hope it's not a Houdini act - you see it today and it disappears in the next couple weeks.
   • I wonder if they'll let me do a Houdini and board the plane in a straitjacket and watertank?
   • CB had 17 of the Pistons' 41 points at the half before pulling a Houdini and magically disappearing in the second half, registering just 1 lonely point.
   • Any creature captured then put on public exhibition will do a Houdini and terrorize the town.
   • ‘Thankfully, we got our act together to give ourselves this chance and hopefully now with our support behind us we can do a Houdini and retain our status,’ said Quinlan.