Word Explorer
Shell game
A game of skill which requires the bettor to guess which of three small cups (or shells) a pea-sized object is concealed under, after the party operating the game rapidly rearranges them, providing opportunity for sleight-of-hand trickery.
📖 Definitions of "Shell game"
noun
- 1
A game of skill which requires the bettor to guess which of three small cups (or shells) a pea-sized object is concealed under, after the party operating the game rapidly rearranges them, providing opportunity for sleight-of-hand trickery.
- 2
Any confidence scheme, especially one involving the rapid movement of investment funds to a location beyond recovery.
💡 Words with a Similar Meaning to "Shell game"
Found via reverse dictionary — words that share a conceptual meaning.
| Word | Definition |
|---|---|
| thimblerignoun | A game of skill which requires the bettor to guess under which of three small cups (or thimbles) a pea-sized object has been placed after the party operating the game rapidly rearranges them, providing opportunity for sleight-of-hand trickery; a shell game. |
| old army gamenoun | The shell game, or thimblerig. |
| squailsnoun | The game of ninepins. |
| up jenkinsnoun | A party game in which players conceal a small coin or similar item in one palm as they slap it against a table, while other players attempt to identify which hand conceals the item. |
| dice shakernoun | (games) A cup inside which a dice is put to be rolled. |
| shinernoun | One who shines; a luminary. |
| pea shakenoun | (US, Indiana, gambling) An illicit numbers game or lottery, with the numbers marked on small balls or "peas". |
| hunt the slippernoun | A circle game in which the players have to pass a slipper, or other object, without the person designated "it" discovering it. |
| nievie-nievie-nick-nacknoun | (archaic) A game of Scottish origin in which one person would try to guess the hand in which another person was holding an object. |
| sic bonoun | A Chinese game of chance involving betting on the outcome of rolling three dice. |
| game of skillnoun | (games) A game in which the outcome depends mainly on the physical and mental skills of the players, and only secondarily on chance. |
| guessing gamenoun | (games) Any game the object of which is for a player or players to guess a word, etc, for which the other player or players provide clues. |
| handy-dandynoun | (obsolete) A children's game in which one child guesses in which closed hand the other holds some small object, winning the object if right and forfeiting an equivalent if wrong. |
| con gamenoun | A swindle in which the mark, or victim, is defrauded after his or her trust has been won. |
| squailverb | To throw anything about awkwardly or irregularly. |
| mikadonoun | A game of skill, in which identically shaped (but differently colored and valued) wooden sticks must be removed from a pile without disturbing the remaining stack. |
| cockshynoun | An object at which stones are flung; (by extension) a person who is abused or vilified. |
| i spynoun | (games) A game where players have to guess what one can see, based on the initial letter of the object. |
| kelly poolnoun | A pocket billiards game using numbered markers, called peas or pills, and a standard set of sixteen pool balls. Players draw peas at random from a shake bottle, which assigns to them the correspondingly numbered pool ball, kept secret from their opponents, but which they must pocket in order to win the game. |
| shuffleboardnoun | (uncountable) A game that involves sliding a puck or coin towards a target. |
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