monte

¹

[mon-tee]

noun

Cards.

1. 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.

2. three-card monte.

Monte

²

[mon-tee]

noun

1. a male given name.

monte

/ ˈmɒntɪ /

noun

1. a gambling card game of Spanish origin

2. informal,  a certainty

Word History and Origins

Origin of monte¹

1815–25; < Spanish: mountain, hence, heap (of cards); mount ²

Word History and Origins

Origin of monte¹

C19: from Spanish: mountain, hence pile of cards

Example Sentences

His three-card monte skills are storied in the neighborhood, but he’s determined to proceed down the straight and narrow.

From Los Angeles Times

Yet racing, at times, plays its fatality numbers as if it were a game of three-card monte.

From Los Angeles Times

But these dynamics are uncertain in a play that treats identity like a game of three-card monte.

From Los Angeles Times

Just as any three-card monte con artist depends on a crowd salted with shills, political grifters use the diversionary tactics of red/blue divisions — our guy may be bad, but your guy is worse.

From Los Angeles Times

Zooming out a little, the entire right-wing media infrastructure is a game of three-card monte.

From Salon