goldbrick
Informal. anything supposed to be valuable but which turns out to be worthless.
Also goldbricker .Slang. a person, especially a soldier, who shirks responsibility or performs duties without proper effort or care.
to shirk responsibility or perform halfheartedly; loaf.
to swindle; cheat.
Origin of goldbrick
1Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use goldbrick in a sentence
He was run out of a Texas town for trying to sell a rock painted yellow as a gold brick.
The Wyatt Earp Myth: America’s Most Famous Vigilante Wasn’t | Andrew C. Isenberg | July 21, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTMr. Flora: Yes; if you have had many dealings with working people you will know that they are always afraid of a "gold brick."
In The Gold Brick he describes a municipal campaign, as seen from the point of view of the newspaper office.
Americans All | VariousHow do we know that the avouching unknown could not have been sold a gold brick?
The Best Psychic Stories | Various"It was what I was thinkin' of—gold brick," the Cap'n went on.
The Skipper and the Skipped | Holman Day
The contents seemed unreal; but for the clear description of the Gold Brick he would not have given it credence.
The Gold Brick | Ann S. Stephens
British Dictionary definitions for gold brick
something with only a superficial appearance of value
US slang an idler or shirker
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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