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mountebank
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1moun·te·bank

noun \ˈmau̇n-ti-ˌbaŋk\

Definition of MOUNTEBANK

1
: a person who sells quack medicines from a platform
2
: a boastful unscrupulous pretender : charlatan
— moun·te·bank·ery \-ˌbaŋ-k(ə-)rē\ noun
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Examples of MOUNTEBANK

  1. a gang of swindlers and mountebanks
  2. <claimed that many doctors were frauds and mountebanks>

Origin of MOUNTEBANK

Italian montimbanco, from montare to mount + in in, on + banco, banca bench
First Known Use: 1577

Related to MOUNTEBANK

Synonyms
charlatan, fake, faker, fakir, fraud, hoaxer, humbug, impostor, phony (also phoney), pretender, quack, quacksalver, ringer, sham

Rhymes with MOUNTEBANK

central bank, data bank, draw a blank, national bank, piggy bank, reserve bank, riverbank, walk the plank

2mountebank

verb

Definition of MOUNTEBANK

transitive verb
obsolete
: to beguile or transform by trickery <I'll mountebank their loves — Shakespeare>
intransitive verb
: to play the mountebank

First Known Use of MOUNTEBANK

1607

moun·te·bank

noun \ˈmau̇nt-i-ˌbaŋk\   (Medical Dictionary)

Medical Definition of MOUNTEBANK

: an itinerant hawker of pills and patent medicines especially from a platform : quack <bought an unction of a mountebank—Shak.>

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