grift

Noun

A confidence game or swindle.

Verb

1. (US, slang, transitive) To obtain illegally, as by con game.
2. (US, intransitive, slang) To obtain money illegally.
3. (US, intransitive, slang) To obtain money immorally or through deceitful means.

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ɡɹɪft/

Etymology

Cognate with Dutch: gracht

Cognate with Dutch: graven

Cognate with English: grave

In summary

American criminal underworld slang, 1906 (noun), 1915 (verb), alteration of graft (“corruption, illicit profit through corrupt means, bribe, one's occupation”), alteration perhaps influenced by similar sounding words, e.g. drift, etc., probably ultimately from Middle Dutch graft (“digging, ditch, canal, trench”) (modern Dutch gracht), related to Dutch graven (“to dig”), English grave (“to dig”).

Synonyms

graft

Translations

ergaunern

écornifler

estafar

sacar