shell game

noun

1

: thimblerig played especially with three walnut shells

2

: fraud

especially : a swindle involving the substitution of something of little or no value for a valuable item

Did you know?

The shell game, a swindling trick in which a small ball or pea is quickly shifted from under one to another of three walnut shells or cups to fool the spectator guessing its location, is a version of one of the oldest and most widespread forms of sleight of hand. Conjurers have performed this trick, which is also called the cups and balls trick and thimblerig, throughout the world for centuries. The version that became popular in the United States in the late 19th century used walnut shells and peas. Shell game thus became the popular term for the trick, and the trick itself became so well known that the term is now used figuratively to describe dishonest actions that are done to deceive people.

Synonyms

• bunco
• bunko
• con
• fiddle [chiefly British]
• flimflam
• fraud
• hustle
• scam
• sting
• swindle

Examples of shell game in a Sentence

it's amazing how intelligent people fall for that investment-fund shell game

Recent Examples on the Web

While a bit more inside baseball than other comments the U.S. Attorney’s office made in its 13-page letter Monday, the prosecution’s assertion of the shell game being played by the defense may prove the most damning in any bail determination. —Dominic Patten, Deadline, 25 Nov. 2024

But given how much of the plot of this show is apparent from the get-go, McKay and Payne are also guilty of playing narrative shell games with their main characters to stall for time. —Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 29 Aug. 2024

Since last summer, the Justice Department appears to have been playing a clever shell game. —Christine Biederman, WIRED, 18 June 2019

Now, the biggest barrier has been removed, and colleges can pay players directly without the shell game of NIL deals. —Bruce Haring, Deadline, 26 July 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1890, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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