boiler room

American  

noun

1. a room in a building, ship, etc., that houses one or more steam boilers.

2. Slang.

   1. a place where illicit brokers engage in high-pressure selling, over the telephone, of securities of a highly speculative nature or of dubious value.

   2. any room or business where salespeople, bill collectors, solicitors for charitable donations, etc., conduct an intensive telephone campaign, especially in a fast-talking or intimidating manner.

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boiler room British  

noun

1. any room in a building (often in the basement) that contains a boiler for central heating, etc

2. the part of a steam ship that houses the boilers and furnaces

3. the room or department in which the real work of an organization goes on unseen

4. ( chiefly US ) an office used by a team of telephone salespeople, esp of stocks and shares, operating under high pressure

5. 1. a fraudulent scheme in which investors are encouraged to buy non-existent, worthless, or over-priced shares

   2. ( as modifier )

      a boiler-room scam

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Other Word Forms

• boiler-room adjective