badger game

American  

noun

1. an extortion scheme in which a woman places a man in a compromising position and then victimizes him by demanding money when her male accomplice, pretending to be an outraged husband or relative, enters and threatens violence, scandal, etc.

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badger game Idioms  

1. An extortion scheme in which a man is lured into a compromising position, usually by a woman, and then is “discovered” and blackmailed by her associate. For example, The prosecutor accused the couple of playing the badger game. The term alludes to the much older sport of badger-baiting, in which a live badger was trapped and put inside a box and dogs were set on it to drag it out. The woman in the scheme is the “badger.” [Late 1800s]

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Etymology

Origin of badger game

First recorded in 1895–1900

Example Sentences

But in the midst of the machinations the girl-crook decides that, however profitable it may be, the badger game isn't cricket.

From Time Magazine Archive

Last week the Medical Society of the State of New York warned the profession against a peculiarly malicious application of the badger game.

From Time Magazine Archive

Lively as you please, this "comic experience in two acts" involves redoubtable Mr. Cohan, impersonating an ill-used old bachelor, in a badger game.

From Time Magazine Archive

Two Bostonian District Attorneys and a Federal District Attorney's assistant put the "age-old badger game on a big business basis."

From Time Magazine Archive

But the guy they double-crossed in New York, or worked the badger game on, or something like that, got on their trail.

From Murder at Bridge by Austin, Anne