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shill

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shill

   [shil] Slang.
noun
1.
a person who poses as a customer in order to decoy others into participating, as at a gambling house, auction, confidence game, etc.
2.
a person who publicizes or praises something or someone for reasons of self-interest, personal profit, or friendship or loyalty.
verb (used without object)
3.
to work as a shill: He shills for a large casino.

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Shill is always a great word to know.
So is choirboy. Does it mean:
a person who is notably honest, moral, or innocent
a treacherous, greedy person
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verb (used with object)
4.
to advertise or promote (a product) as or in the manner of a huckster; hustle: He was hired to shill a new TV show.
Origin:
1920–25; origin uncertain
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Example Sentences
  • I'd suggest you guys should take a more holistic view of the topic rather than shill age old canards.
  • The only thing priddseren has proven each time he posts here is that he is a shill for the fossil fuel lobby.
  • Give writers more incentive and leeway to shill for the commercial sugar daddies without sacrificing narrative.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
shill (ʃɪl)
 
—n
slang a confidence trickster's assistant, esp a person who poses as an ordinary customer, gambler, etc, in order to entice others to participate
 
[C20: perhaps shortened from shillaber a circus barker, of unknown origin]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

shill
1916, "one who acts as a decoy for a gambler, auctioneer, etc." (probably originally circus or carnival argot), probably a shortened form of shillaber (1913) with the same meaning, origin unknown. The verb is attested from 1914.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Slang Dictionary

shill definition

[ʃɪl]
  1. n.
    someone planted in the crowd to urge others to buy something, participate in something, etc. : The guy's a shill! Don't fall for this setup!
  2. in.
    to advertise for something; to give a sales pitch for something. : Four stars of an old television show were there shilling for a major computer firm.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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