Indian rope trick

English Noun A magic trick said to have been performed in and around India during the 19th century, involving the climbing of a rope that appears to rise unsupported into the air. en rope trick en 1933 w:James Hilton Lost Horizon 1973 180 I asked him if he thought they had any occult or medicinal way of prolonging life or preserving youth, and he said they were supposed to have a great deal of very curious knowledge about such things, but he suspected that if you came to look into it, it was rather like the Indian rope trick - always something that somebody else had seen. Further reading