grift
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Contents
English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
US criminal underworld slang, 1906 (noun), 1915 (verb), thinning alteration of graft.[1][2][3] The lighter sound (‘a’ → ‘i’, /ɑː/ or /æ/ → /ɪ/) is associated with more subtle, sophisticated crime; compare swindle.
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
grift (plural grifts)
- A confidence game or swindle.
- Hey, what's the grift? What are you trying to pull?
Synonyms[edit]
- See also Wikisaurus:deception
Translations[edit]
con game — see con game
Verb[edit]
grift (third-person singular simple present grifts, present participle grifting, simple past and past participle grifted)
- (transitive) To obtain illegally, as by con game.
- (intransitive) To obtain money illegally.
References[edit]
- ^ “grift” in Douglas Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary (2001).
- ^ A Dictionary of the Underworld: British and American, Eric Partridge (2015), p. 307
- ^ Word Origins...And How We Know Them: Etymology for Everyone, Anatoly Liberman (2009), p. 32
