scam

English

Etymology

US carnival slang. Possibly from scamp (swindler, cheater).

The word "scam" became common use among the US "drug culture" in early 1980 after Operation ABSCAM, an FBI sting operation directed at public officials, became public.

Pronunciation

  • enPR: skăm, IPA(key): /skæm/
  • Rhymes: -æm

Noun

scam (plural scams)

  1. A fraudulent deal.
    That marketing scheme looks like a scam to me.
  2. Something that is promoted using scams.
    That car was a scam.

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Verb

scam (third-person singular simple present scams, present participle scamming, simple past and past participle scammed)

  1. (transitive) To defraud or embezzle.
    They tried to scam her out of her savings.

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