shill

[ shil ]
See synonyms for shill on Thesaurus.com
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)
  1. to work as a shill: He shills for a large casino.

verb (used with object)
  1. 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 of shill

1
First recorded in 1920–25; origin uncertain

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use shill in a sentence

  • Somebody's shtole thim, fir the birrd niver ate thim, shills an' all.

    The Believing Years | Edmund Lester Pearson

British Dictionary definitions for shill

shill

/ (ʃɪl) /


noun
  1. slang a confidence trickster's assistant, esp a person who poses as an ordinary customer, gambler, etc, in order to entice others to participate

Origin of shill

1
C20: perhaps shortened from shillaber a circus barker, of unknown origin

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