three-card monte

noun \ ˈthrē-ˈkärd- \

|Updated on: 6 Jun 2018

Definition of three-card monte

: a gambling game in which the dealer shows three cards, shuffles them, places them face down, and invites spectators to bet they can identify the location of a particular card

Recent Examples of three-card monte from the Web

Topdog/Underdog For Ubuntu Theater Project, Dorian Lockett and Michael Curry star in Suzan-Lori Parks’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play about brothers Lincoln and Booth, one who works as a Lincoln impersonator, the other who deals three-card Monte.

— chronicle staff report, San Francisco Chronicle, "Theater capsule reviews and listings, week of May 27," 24 May 2018
That fellow in the picture who, in my thinking, appears to be dealing a game of three-card monte, is former Democratic state Sen. Jeremy Ring of Parkland.

— dan sweeney, Sun-Sentinel.com, "Power Lunch: Four amendments on 2018 ballot and counting," 24 Jan. 2018
New Orleans watched for months as the top three candidates for mayor shuffled to the lead in poll after poll like a game of three-card Monte, deceiving anyone who thought a favorite would emerge.

— richard rainey, NOLA.com, "For a New Orleans mayoral runoff prediction, read the primary tea leaves," 17 Oct. 2017
And now, 40-odd years later, their achievements are under assault from a gaggle of lightweights and a president-elect whose only apparent political skill is the equivalent of a three-card monte game on the E train.

— charles p. pierce, Esquire, "What a Weekend It Was for Civil Rights," 17 Jan. 2017

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