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View synonyms for

shell game

noun

  1. a sleight-of-hand swindling game resembling thimblerig but employing walnut shells or the like instead of thimblelike cups.
  2. any deceit, swindle, fraud, or the like.


shell game

noun

  1. the US name for thimblerig
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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yvlog History and Origins

Origin of shell game1

An Americanism dating back to 1885–90
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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

This is a typical shell game that conservatives play.

From

This atomic shell game would cover an area about the size of the state of Alabama.

From

The complaint also alleges that, for years, Grubhub “hidden the true cost of its delivery services — a tactic that a former executive called a ‘pricing shell game.’”

From

But there’s a bit of a shell game going on when it comes to Vance’s poverty credentials.

From

Each had a sea sponge underneath, like a rigged shell game.

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