three-card monte

noun

ˈthrē-ˈkärd-

: a gambling game in which the dealer shows three cards, shuffles them, places them face down, and invites spectators to bet they can identify the location of a particular card

Examples of three-card monte in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Smith, according to law enforcement, was basically playing three-card monte with wire transfers and bogus bank statements to help cover his high times and high-risk investments. —

Neal Rubin, Detroit Free Press, 8 June 2024 Or can one side be played as a sucker during a game of three-card monte on the sidewalk outside the dingy bus terminal? —

New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 11 Feb. 2024 Booth, a street hustler, wants Lincoln to teach him three-card monte, a game Lincoln mastered before giving it up for a respectable, if demoralizing, job. —

Imani Perry Janina Edwards Krish Seenivasan Devin Murphy, New York Times, 11 Apr. 2024 But these dynamics are uncertain in a play that treats identity like a game of three-card monte. —

Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 3 Feb. 2024 See all Example Sentences for three-card monte

Word History

First Known Use

1854, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler

The first known use of three-card monte was in 1854

See more words from the same year

Cite this Entry

Style

“Three-card monte.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/three-card%20monte. Accessed 3 Dec. 2024.

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