swindle
See also: Swindle
English
Etymology
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”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈswɪnd(ə)l/
Audio (RP) (file) - Rhymes: -ɪndəl
Verb
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
Synonyms
- See also Thesaurus:deceive
- (to be swindled): be sold a pup (idiomatic, British, Australian)
- (to defraud): swizz (informal, mainly British)
Derived terms
- swindler
Translations
to defraud someone
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to obtain money or property by fraudulent or deceitful methods
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Noun
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
Synonyms
- See also Thesaurus:deception
- scheme
- swizz (informal, mainly British)
Translations
an instance of swindling
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Anagrams
- Windles, wildens, windles