swindle

verb

swin·dle | \ˈswin-dᵊl

swindled; swindling\ˈswin(d)-liŋ,

ˈswin-dᵊl-iŋ \

Definition of swindle

(Entry 1 of 2)

intransitive verb

: to obtain money or property by fraud or deceit

transitive verb

: to take money or property from by fraud or deceit

swindle

noun

Definition of swindle (Entry 2 of 2)

: an act or instance of swindling : fraud

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Choose the Right Synonym for swindle

Verb

cheat, cozen, defraud, swindle mean to get something by dishonesty or deception. cheat suggests using trickery that escapes observation. cheated me out of a dollar cozen implies artful persuading or flattering to attain a thing or a purpose. always able to cozen her grandfather out of a few dollars defraud stresses depriving one of his or her rights and usually connotes deliberate perversion of the truth. defrauded of her inheritance by an unscrupulous lawyer swindle implies large-scale cheating by misrepresentation or abuse of confidence. swindled of their savings by con artists

Examples of swindle in a Sentence

Verb

hundreds of people were swindled out of their savings, and all they had to show for it were fake land deeds

Noun

a swindle that involved selling a lot of land that really didn't exist identity theft has become one of the most frequent and feared swindles of our time

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

In July 2014, a Bexar County jury acquitted Cain of swindling Rackspace Hosting Inc. in a 2007 land deal. — Patrick Danner, San Antonio Express-News, "Uresti’s co-defendant set to be sentenced," 27 June 2018 To give just one infuriating illustration, Twitter has until now failed to stem a torrent of fake accounts impersonating figures in and around the blockchain industry and trying to swindle users out of cryptocurrency. — David Z. Morris, Fortune, "Twitter’s Huge Purge of Fake Accounts Could Lead to Decline in User Numbers," 7 July 2018 She was accused on swindling a Clermont bank of $1,400, records show. — Stephen Hudak, OrlandoSentinel.com, "Father whose son died in hit-and-run softened his harsh opinion of driver found dead," 18 June 2018 The manager of a Rite Aid on Route 106 in Mansfield played the hero May 14, apparently helping to prevent an elderly woman from getting swindled. — Emily Sweeney, BostonGlobe.com, "Help! Your (fill in the blank) is in trouble," 8 June 2018 Would-be buyers have been swindled out of more than $54 million as of December 2017, according to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center. — Washington Post, "Edmunds: How to avoid fraud when buying a car online," 20 June 2018 All told, Bentley swindled the business club and school organizations out of more than $103,000 with his unauthorized transactions, authorities said. — Jared Gilmour, miamiherald, "Teacher helped lead Future Business Leaders of America. He stole $52,000 from them, Ohio cops say," 19 June 2018 Would-be buyers have been swindled out of more than $54 million as of December 2017, according to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center. — Carroll Lachnit, Edmunds, USA TODAY, "Edmunds: Tips on how to avoid fraud when buying a car online," 22 June 2018 Handing all those responsibilities to one person or one organization is the easiest way to get swindled. — Andy Staples, SI.com, "How West Virginia Is Preparing Its Stars for the Biggest Year of Their Lives," 3 May 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

To avoid being the victim of a swindle by fraudsters, senior citizens should heed the following tips. — Erika Pesantes, Sun-Sentinel.com, "Seniors: Tips to avoid being scammed," 21 June 2018 But the sun and the swindles brought him to South Florida, which is now the backdrop for the latest chapter in the seemingly endless controversy over who may have have ripped off whom in the 2016 presidential election. — David Smiley And Glenn Garvin, miamiherald, "Mystery Miamian tied to Trump probe had many names, foul mouth, 2 DUI busts," 19 June 2018 Modernism was a swindle – a dangerous lie perpetuated by Jews, communists, and even the insane to contaminate the body of German society. — Meilan Solly, Smithsonian, "How the Brits Refuted Nazi Germany’s ‘Degenerate Art’ Exhibition," 13 June 2018 The internet is a global gathering of strangers and money, which means that a fraud, a trick, a swindle, a grift or a graft is obviously never far. — Farhad Manjoo, New York Times, "Farhad’s Week in Tech: Bitcoin and the Scams Under Everything," 15 June 2018 Last year’s most lucrative swindle was the business email compromise (BEC), a sophisticated scam that targets people who regularly transfer large sums of money by wire or who write large checks. — Sam Wood, Philly.com, "Cybercrime losses much greater in Philly and U.S. than FBI reports," 9 May 2018 Like many a Mamet play, the book explains grifts and swindles, and exposes rampant corruption. — Christopher Arnott, courant.com, "Shakespeare's 'Hamlet,' 'Love’s Labour’s Lost' Announced For Summer," 24 Apr. 2018 The new payments bring the total paid out of the fund to $1.2 billion, a fraction of what regulators described as a $50 billion swindle when Mr. Madoff was arrested in 2008. — Rob Copeland, WSJ, "Madoff Victims to Get New U.S. Government Payout," 12 Apr. 2018 One of the people allegedly involved in that swindle was arrested last year. — Pete Grathoff, kansascity, "Italian soccer team loses $2.5 million in email scam (it wasn’t the Nigerian prince) | The Kansas City Star," 28 Mar. 2018

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