skin game

See synonyms for skin game on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a dishonest or unscrupulous business operation, scheme, etc.

  2. any cheating or fraudulent trick.

Origin of skin game

1
An Americanism dating back to 1865–70

Words Nearby skin game

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use skin game in a sentence

  • I suppose it's some parental promise she's made, or some skin-game buyer has been through here and threw a wrench in the gears.

    David Lannarck, Midget | George S. Harney
  • And because grafters, shilabers, and skin-game artists follow circuses, the public thinks these are a part of it.

    David Lannarck, Midget | George S. Harney
  • If I ever want to work any skin game I'll go out of the place where all my friends are.

    Patchwork | Anna Balmer Myers
  • Ye tried to kill a thousand-dollar bird by a skin-game, and I'll have it out of your hide.

  • "Th' fur trade ain't th' only skin game, young feller," he softly said.

    Bring Me His Ears | Clarence E. Mulford

British Dictionary definitions for skin game

skin game

noun
  1. slang a swindling trick

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012