swindle

Etymology

Back-formation from swindler, from German Schwindler, from German schwindeln, from Middle High German swindeln, swindelen, from Old High German swintiln, frequentative of the verb swintan, from Proto-West Germanic *swindan (“to diminish”). See also Modern German schwindeln, Danish svindel and svindle, Dutch zwindelen and zwendelen, Yiddish שווינדל (shvindl), Low German swinneln, Middle English swinden (“to languish, waste away”).

verb

1. (transitive) To defraud.
   The two men swindled the company out of $160,000.
2. (transitive, intransitive) To obtain (money or property) by fraudulent or deceitful methods.
   She swindled more than £200 out of me.
3. (chess) for a player in a losing position to play a clever move that provokes an error from the opponent, thus achieving a win or a draw

noun

1. An instance of swindling.
   [T]he scandal was the pretty common one of a corrupt agreement between hotel proprietors and a salesman who took and gave secret commissions, so that his business had a monopoly of all the drink sold in the place. It wasn't even an open slavery like an ordinary tied house; it was a swindle at the expense of everybody the manager was supposed to serve. 1935, G. K. Chesterton, The Scandal of Father Brown
2. Anything that is deceptively not what it appears to be.
3. (chess) An instance wherein a player in a losing position plays a clever move that provokes an error from the opponent, thus achieving a win or a draw.