skin game
Americannoun
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a dishonest or unscrupulous business operation, scheme, etc.
-
any cheating or fraudulent trick.
noun
Etymology
Origin of skin game
An Americanism dating back to 1865–70
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.
From the beginning he had higgled and haggled himself to a sad frazzle, even arguing that the skin game is an old Connecticut custom, making us worthy of our reputation as peddlers of wooden nutmegs.
From Time Magazine Archive
The big news in the skin game is that it's getting masculine to be feminine.
From Time Magazine Archive
Barnard's endorsement is the latest and most successful wrinkle in the lucrative skin game.
From Time Magazine Archive
I would like to take this opportunity to warn the general public against investment as in its present unperfected state it looks to me like a "skin" game.
From Time Magazine Archive
Let’s have a look at this friend o’ yours—if you-all are tryin’ any skin game on me, look out!”
From The Mesa Trail by H. Bedford-Jones
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.
