swindle

UK:*UK and possibly other pronunciationsUK and possibly other pronunciations/ˈswɪndəl/US:USA pronunciation: IPA and respellingUSA pronunciation: IPA/ˈswɪndəl/ ,USA pronunciation: respelling(swindl)

Inflections of 'swindle' (v): (⇒ conjugate)
swindles
v 3rd person singular
swindling
v pres p
swindled
v past
swindled
v past p

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025
swin•dle /ˈswɪndəl/USA pronunciation   v., -dled, -dling, n. 
v. [+ object (+ out of + object)]
  1. to cheat (someone) out of money or other valuable things:They swindled us (out of thousands of dollars).
  2. to obtain by cheating or dishonest practices:He swindled enough money (out of us) to fly to South America.

n. [countable]
  1. the act of swindling;
    a scheme involving swindling.
  2. anything that involves cheating.
swin•dler, n. [countable]

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025
swin•dle  (swindl),USA pronunciation v., -dled, -dling, n. 
v.t. 
  1. to cheat (a person, business, etc.) out of money or other assets.
  2. to obtain by fraud or deceit.

v.i. 
  1. to put forward plausible schemes or use unscrupulous trickery to defraud others;
    cheat.

n. 
  1. an act of swindling or a fraudulent transaction or scheme.
  2. anything deceptive;
    a fraud:This advertisement is a real swindle.
  • German Schwindler irresponsible person, promoter of wildcat schemes, cheat, derivative of schwindeln to be dizzy (hence dizzy-minded, irresponsible), defraud, equivalent. to schwind- (akin to Old English swindan to languish) + -(e)l- -le + -er -er1
  • back formation from swindler 1775–85
swindle•a•ble, adj. 
swindler, n. 
swindling•ly, adv. 
    • 1.See corresponding entry in Unabridged cozen, dupe, trick, gull.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
swindle / ˈswɪndəl/
  1. to cheat (someone) of money, etc; defraud
  2. (transitive) to obtain (money, etc) by fraud
  1. a fraudulent scheme or transaction
Etymology: 18th Century: back formation from German Schwindler, from schwindeln, from Old High German swintilōn, frequentative of swintan to disappearˈswindler
'swindle' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
Collocations: [a dishonest, an illegal] swindle, hey, this is a swindle!, hey, that was a swindle!, more...

Forum discussions with the word(s) "swindle" in the title:


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