palm off

verb

1. to offer, sell, or spend fraudulently

   to palm off a counterfeit coin

2. to divert in order to be rid of

   I palmed the unwelcome visitor off on John

Idioms and Phrases

Pass off by deception, substitute with intent to deceive, as in The salesman tried to palm off a zircon as a diamond , or The producer tried to palm her off as a star from the Metropolitan Opera . This expression alludes to concealing something in the palm of one's hand. It replaced the earlier palm on in the early 1800s.