shortchange

[shawrt-cheynj]

See more synonyms for shortchange on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object), short·changed, short·chang·ing.

to give less than the correct change to.
to deal with unfairly or dishonestly, especially to cheat.

Origin of shortchange

An Americanism dating back to 1890–95

Related formsshort·chang·er, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for shortchange

bamboozle, bilk, deceive, defraud, dupe, finagle, fleece, flimflam, gyp, hose, mislead, rook, scam, screw, shaft, stiff, swindle, take, trick, double-deal

Examples from the Web for shortchange

Contemporary Examples of shortchange

Like all other government entities in the U.S., Puerto Rico has many people to shortchange before it will stiff its bondholders.
Wall Street’s Disconnect
Daniel Gross
October 22, 2013
Did they really think he would diss Obama, or shortchange him—or do anything but support him wholeheartedly?
Obama, Clinton Scored Back to Back Home Runs With Their Speeches
Robert Shrum
September 8, 2012