shell game
Americannoun
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a sleight-of-hand swindling game resembling thimblerig but employing walnut shells or the like instead of thimblelike cups.
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any deceit, swindle, fraud, or the like.
noun
Etymology
Origin of shell game
An Americanism dating back to 1885–90
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"It's what we call a shell game," said McDonald, who drove one of the vehicles during the Bush administration.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026
It was a shell game so profitable that no one had any interest in naming it.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 27, 2026
This atomic shell game would cover an area about the size of the state of Alabama.
From Salon ● Jan. 24, 2025
The 82-page suit on behalf of Leadenhall Capital Partners claimed that the owners were “operating a giant shell game at best, and an outright Ponzi scheme at worst.”
From Seattle Times ● May 7, 2024
Jinx grabbed Ned by the elbow and led him to the shell game.
From "Moon Over Manifest" by Clare Vanderpool
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.
