three-card monte
Americannoun
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a gambling game in which the players are shown three cards and bet that they can identify one particular card of the three, as stipulated by the dealer, after the cards have been moved around face down by the dealer.
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a form of three-card stud poker.
Etymology
Origin of three-card monte
An Americanism dating back to 1850–55
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.
His three-card monte skills are storied in the neighborhood, but he’s determined to proceed down the straight and narrow.
From Los Angeles Times
Yet racing, at times, plays its fatality numbers as if it were a game of three-card monte.
From Los Angeles Times
But these dynamics are uncertain in a play that treats identity like a game of three-card monte.
From Los Angeles Times
If you see anyone playing three-card monte or a shell game, just keep walking.
From Seattle Times
In the wide-open world of grifts and schemes, an overinflated basketball may not rank with identity theft, Facebook come-ons from a Nigerian prince or even a hurried game of three-card monte.
From Seattle Times
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.
