Subscriber login


Forgot your password?

Library card login

Other

swindle

Pronunciation: /ˈswɪnd(ə)l/

Translate swindle | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of swindle

verb

[with object]
  • use deception to deprive (someone) of money or possessions:a businessman swindled investors out of millions of pounds
  • obtain (money) fraudulently:he was said to have swindled £62.5 million from the state-owned cement industry

noun

  • a fraudulent scheme or action:he is mixed up in a £10 million insurance swindle

Derivatives

swindler

noun

Origin:

late 18th century: back-formation from swindler, from German Schwindler 'extravagant maker of schemes, swindler', from schwindeln 'be giddy', also 'tell lies'

swindle in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of swindle in the US English dictionary

Nearby words

  |  Cite

More words in this category

Word of the day

secretagogue

/ siˈkrētəˌgôg /
noun
a substance that promotes secretion …