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swindle

Pronunciation: /ˈswɪndəl/

The English word “swindle” has 6 meanings listed here.

verb

  1. To defraud.
  2. To obtain (money or property) by fraudulent or deceitful methods.
  3. 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.

noun

  1. An instance of swindling.
  2. Anything that is deceptively not what it appears to be.
  3. An instance wherein a player in a losing position plays a clever move that provokes an error from the opponent, thus achieving a win or a draw.

Etymology

Back-formation from swindler, from German Schwindler, from German schwindeln, from Middle High German swindeln, swindelen, from Old High German swintilōn, 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…

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.