WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025
pi′geon drop′,
- a confidence game or sleight-of-hand swindle whereby cash is extracted from the victim as collateral for a supposed share in a large sum of discovered money, dishonest profits, or gambling winnings, which in fact are nonexistent.
- so called because such swindles origin, originally began with the dropping of a wallet in front of the intended victim, the pigeon 1935–40, American.