Unnumbered source etymology
Original entry ↗noun
A confidence game or swindle.
verb
Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventoryTo obtain illegally, as by con game. · To obtain money illegally. · To obtain money immorally or through deceitful means.
American criminal underworld slang, 1906 (noun), 1915 (verb), alteration of graft (“corruption, illicit profit through corrupt means, bribe, one's occupation”), alteration perhaps influenced by similar sounding words, e.g. drift, etc., probably ultimately from Middle Dutch graft (“digging, ditch, canal, trench”) (modern Dutch gracht), related to Dutch graven (“to dig”), English grave (“to dig”).
Relationships mentioned by the source
These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.
Inspect preserved source fields
Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.
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