psyching

/ˈsaɪkɪŋ/
verb
  1. To mentally prepare oneself or someone else for a challenge or difficult situation.
    • I need to psyche myself up to give this presentation.
    • The coach was psyching the team up with an inspiring speech before the game.
    • She spent the morning psyching herself up for the big race.
  2. To intimidate or unsettle someone psychologically, often to gain an advantage.
    • The chess player tried to psyche out his opponent by staring intensely.
    • Don't let their trash talk psyche you out before the match.
    • He was psyching the other runners by pretending to be injured.
  3. To understand or figure out someone or something through intuition or analysis.
    • It took me a while to psyche out how the new software works.
    • She can always psyche out what her little brother is thinking.
    • I finally psyched out the answer to the riddle.