swindle
See also: Swindle
EnglishEdit
EtymologyEdit
Back-formation from swindler, from German Schwindler, from German schwindeln, from Middle High German swindeln, swindelen, from Old High German swintiln, frequentative of the verb swintan, from Proto-West Germanic *swindan (“to diminish”).
See also Modern German schwindeln, Danish svindel and svindle, Dutch zwindelen and zwendelen, Yiddish שווינדל (shvindl), Low German swinneln, Middle English swinden (“to languish, waste away”).
PronunciationEdit
VerbEdit
swindle (third-person singular simple present swindles, present participle swindling, simple past and past participle swindled)
- (transitive) To defraud.
- The two men swindled the company out of $160,000.
- (transitive, intransitive) To obtain (money or property) by fraudulent or deceitful methods.
- She swindled more than £200 out of me.
- (chess) for a player in a losing position to play a clever move that provokes an error from the opponent, thus achieving a win or a draw
SynonymsEdit
- See also Thesaurus:deceive
- (to be swindled): be sold a pup (idiomatic, British, Australian)
- (to defraud): swizz (informal, mainly British)
Derived termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
to defraud someone
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to obtain money or property by fraudulent or deceitful methods
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NounEdit
swindle (plural swindles)
- An instance of swindling.
- Anything that is deceptively not what it appears to be.
- (chess) when a player in a losing position plays a clever move that provokes an error from the opponent, thus achieving a win or a draw
SynonymsEdit
- See also Thesaurus:deception
- scheme
- swizz (informal, mainly British)
TranslationsEdit
an instance of swindling
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