Also called monte bank. a gambling game played with a 40-card pack in which players bet that one of two layouts, each consisting of two cards drawn from either the top or bottom of the deck and turned face up, will be matched in suit by the next card turned up.
a gambling card game of Spanish origin
informal a certainty
1815–25; < Spanish: mountain, hence, heap (of cards); see mount 2
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
These characters are fluent in three-card monte rap, no cards required.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 5, 2025
If you see anyone playing three-card monte or a shell game, just keep walking.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 28, 2023
Activists at the time raised the alarm as they treated burns on animals displaced by the fires, including monitos del monte, - small nocturnal marsupials - and pudus, the world's smallest deer.
From Reuters ● Jul. 13, 2023
Now you can reach out and find the three card monte enthusiast and get them to come to you, instead of the other way around.
From Salon ● Jul. 11, 2023
He’d learned sleight of hand from the cardsharps and monte runners on East Stave, and spent hours practicing it in front of a muddy mirror he’d bought with his first week’s pay.
From "Six of Crows" by Leigh Bardugo
Ask “What’s my written plan for getting down this mountain, what does the Monte Carlo say, and how much can I spend this year without putting anything at risk?”
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 16, 2026
In La Habra, a two-alarm fire broke out in a commercial building on South Monte Vista Street on Saturday night, threatening other buildings, the Los Angeles County Fire Department said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 5, 2026
"We always push Jannik to ask a question. I remember one time in Monte Carlo when Novak told him some advice on his forehand – don't push but try to find a bit shorter corner."
From BBC ● Jun. 22, 2026
To investigate further, the researchers used Monte Carlo simulations, a computational technique that allowed them to study how different particle shapes interact.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 15, 2026
San Jose Mogote seems to have transplanted itself to Monte Alban, in the middle of the buffer zone.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
