Meanings
plural thimblerigs · alternative thimble-rig
- countableuncountableA 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.
‘Great Barnums?’ says I. ‘You're a ringer for a circus thimblerig man.’
1908, O. Henry [pseudonym; William Sydney Porter], “Modern Rural Sports”, in The Gentle Grafter, New York, N.Y.: The McClure Company, →OCLC1 more example
He’ll muddle away the Begum’s fortune at thimble-rig, be caught picking pockets, and finish on board the hulks.
1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 45, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850, →OCLCSynonyms: shell game
present singular third person thimblerigs · participle present thimblerigging · participle past thimblerigged · past thimblerigged · alternative thimble-rig
- intransitiveTo operate a thimblerig game.
Old Pratt is a different kind of crook—a psalm-singing, pussyfooted old buccaneer, teaching a Bible class on Sundays and thimblerigging in Wall Street on week days.
1916, Irvin S. Cobb, “Enter the villain”, in Local Color - ambitransitivefigurativelyTo cheat (someone) by trickery.
The favor is to you. I do not permit any man to thimblerig his debts to me into my debts to him.
1905, David Graham Phillips, The Plum Tree
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA 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.
nounOne operating such a game.
More synonyms by meaning
nouna swindling sleight-of-hand game; victim guesses which of three things a pellet is under
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Translations
Bulgarian тука има - тука няма
- тука има - тука няма (tuka ima - tuka njama)sleight-of-hand betting game — see also shell game
Hungarian itt a piros
- itt a pirossleight-of-hand betting game — see also shell game
Polish gra w trzy kubki i groszek, osoba prowadząca grę w trzy kubki i groszek
- gra w trzy kubki i groszeksleight-of-hand betting game — see also shell game
- osoba prowadząca grę w trzy kubki i groszekperson operating such a game — see also thimblerigger
Russian напёрстки, напёрсточник
- напёрстки (napjórstki)sleight-of-hand betting game — see also shell game
- напёрсточник (napjórstočnik)person operating such a game — see also thimblerigger
Spanish trile, trilero
- trilesleight-of-hand betting game — see also shell game
- trileroperson operating such a game — see also thimblerigger
- trileraperson operating such a game — see also thimblerigger
Tagalog tatlong-didal
- tatlong-didalsleight-of-hand betting game — see also shell game
Cite this entry
thimblerig. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/thimblerig
“thimblerig.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/thimblerig. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “thimblerig,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/thimblerig.
Source: thimblerig on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.