chiseler

English

Alternative forms

• chiseller

Etymology

chisel +‎ -er

Noun

chiseler (plural chiselers)

1. One who uses a chisel for carving.
2. (informal) A cheat; a swindler; a con artist.
   • 1941, Groucho Marx, The Big Store (movie)

     [Of course $20,000 is too much.] Only a cheap chiseler would ask that much.

3. (informal, Ireland, 20th-century inner-city Dublin slang) A child.
   • 1922 February, James Joyce, “[Episode 6]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, […], →OCLC:

     --Reuben and the son were piking it down the quay next the river on their way to the Isle of Man boat and the young chiseller suddenly got loose and over the wall with him into the Liffey.

Synonyms

• (informal: con artist): sharper, spiv

Translations

person who carves using a chisel

• French: ciseleur (fr) m
• German: Ziseleur (de) m
• Romanian: gravor (ro) m, dăltuitor (ro) m
• Swedish: ciselör (sv)

Anagrams

• Eichlers, Reichels, Reichles, rechisel