shell game
noun
a sleight-of-hand swindling game resembling thimblerig but employing walnut shells or the like instead of thimblelike cups.
any deceit, swindle, fraud, or the like.
Origin of shell game
An Americanism dating back to 1885–90
Words nearby shell game
shelikof strait,
shell,
shell back,
shell bean,
shell company,
shell game,
shell gland,
shell jacket,
shell out,
shell pink,
shell program
Example sentences from the Web for shell game
I got the school by a sort of shell-game, which the board worked on themselves.
The Brown Mouse |Herbert QuickHe had not yet learned to keep away from the shell-game wagons that followed the circus.
O Pioneers! |Willa Cather