boiler room

noun

Definition of boiler room

1 : a room in which a boiler is located

2 : a room equipped with telephones used for making high-pressure usually fraudulent sales pitches

Examples of boiler room in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Our compounds boiler room was manned by a Turkish National. — Laura Demarco, cleveland.com, "Apollo 11 Moon Landing: Readers shares their memories of the momentous event for mankind," 14 July 2019 Most of these calls come from telephone boiler rooms in India, Baker told NBC News BETTER. — NBC News, "Get a call from the Social Security Administration? It's the latest government imposter scam," 13 July 2019 Emergency services arrived at the hotel at 10:19 am after being alerted to the presence of carbon monoxide in the building’s boiler room by an automatic alarm. — Hannah Chubb, PEOPLE.com, "Carbon Monoxide Leak in Super 8 Motel Sends 46 People to the Hospital," 10 July 2019 Winnipeg Fire and Paramedic Chief John Lane told reporters that the alarm in question was in the hotel's boiler room. — Fox News, "Dozens hospitalized after carbon monoxide exposure at Winnipeg motel," 10 July 2019 He is transferred from the basement boiler room to the airy upper-floor suites where the big shots make their calls. — New York Times, "Review: ‘Sorry to Bother You,’ but Can I Interest You in a Wild Dystopian Satire?," 2 July 2018 Old Glory Buried in the depths of an old boiler room in the rapidly expanding Edgehill Village neighborhood, the entrance to this speakeasy is through a semi-secret yellow triangle door and down a concrete spiral staircase gilded with gold railings. — Kristin Luna, Condé Nast Traveler, "14 Best Bars in Nashville," 27 Feb. 2018 Children play on potholed parking lots and in a boiler room with no lock on its door. — Richard Webner, San Antonio Express-News, "Refugees flee war-torn homelands for deteriorating apartment complexes in S.A.," 30 June 2018 And people running them can cast a much wider net with robocalls than boiler rooms full of humans. — Chris Morris, Fortune, "Why a $120 Million Fine Will Do Nothing to Stop Robocalls," 11 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'boiler room.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Last Updated

18 Jul 2019

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The first known use of boiler room was in 1820

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More Definitions for boiler room

boiler room

noun

Financial Definition of boiler room

What It Is

A boiler room is a call center in which salespeople call potential investors in an attempt to sell risky, or even falsified, investment opportunities using aggressive and unethical tactics.

How It Works

The term came about as a result of the high pressure sales environment it creates. Most salespeople in these environments work solely on commission and many of the investment opportunities are less-than-legitimate.

The salesperson may use fake reports or documents to support claims of profits or legitimacy. During the sales call, aggressive tactics are used to intimidate and entice naïve and non-investment-savvy consumers to partake in an investment scam that may have little, if any, true value. The salespeople try to entice potential investors by promising or hinting at huge returns on their investment.

Why It Matters

If not illegal, the sales tactics that are used in boiler rooms do not conform to government regulations or fair market rules. Boiler room salespeople maximize their income by conveying one-sided, or even false, information in order to persuade as many customers as possible to invest as quickly as possible.

Source: Investing Answers

boiler room

noun