hornswoggle

verb

horn·swog·gle | \ ˈhȯrn-ˌswä-gəl

How to pronounce hornswoggle (audio)

\

hornswoggled; hornswoggling\ ˈhȯrn-ˌswä-g(ə-)liŋ

How to pronounce hornswoggling (audio)

\; hornswoggles

Definition of hornswoggle

transitive verb

slang

: to trick or deceive (someone) : bamboozle, hoax … trying to avoid getting hornswoggled by advertising claims …— Jennifer Rude Klett — often used with into or out of By the end of the call, Santillo had allegedly hornswoggled Olson into parting with her life savings …— Gary CraigIf you want to know what hell can really do in the way of furies, look for the chap who has been hornswoggled into taking a long and unnecessary bicycle ride in the dark without a lamp.— P. G. WodehouseHe also saw his mother get hornswoggled out of $500—seven weeks' salary, the family's entire savings—by a slick traveling vacuum salesman.— Kim Lachance Shandrow

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Examples of hornswoggle in a Sentence

I think we've been hornswoggled by that carnival barker.

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The first known use of hornswoggle was in 1877

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