Swin"dle (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Swindled (?); p. pr. & vb. n.
Swindling (?).] [See Swindler.] To cheat defraud grossly, or with
deliberate artifice; as, to swindle a man out of his property.
Lammote . . . has swindled one of them out of three hundred livres.
Carlyle.
Swin"dle, n. The act or process of swindling; a cheat.
Swin"dler (?), n. [G. schwindler, fr. schwindlen to be dizzy, to act
thoughtlessly, to cheat, fr. schwindel dizziness, fr. schwinden to
vanish, to disappear, to dwindle. See Swim to be dizzy.] One who
swindles, or defrauds grossly; one who makes a practice of defrauding
others by imposition or deliberate artifice; a cheat.
Syn. -- Sharper; rogue. -- Swindler, Sharper. These words agree in
describing persons who take unfair advantages. A swindler is one who
obtains money or goods under false pretenses. A sharper is one who
cheats by sharp practice, as in playing at cards or staking what he can
not pay.
Fraud and injustice soon follow, and the dignity of the British
merchant is sunk in the scandalous appellation of a swindler.