Etymology Back-formation from swindler, from German Schwindler, from German schwindeln, from Middle High German swindeln, swindelen, from Old High German swintilōn, frequentative of the verb swintan, from Proto-West Germanic *swindan (“to diminish”). See also Modern German schwindeln, Danish svindel and svindle, Dutch zwindelen and zwendelen, Yiddish שווינדל (shvindl), Low German swinneln, Middle English swinden (“to languish, waste away”).
1
To defraud.
The two men swindled the company out of $160,000.
Such Nations cannot have a King to command them; can only have this or the other scandalous swindling Copper Captain, constitutional Gilt Mountebank, or other the like unsalutary entity by way of King; and the sins of the fathers are visited upon the children in a frightful and tragical manner, little noticed in the Penny Newspapers and Periodical Literatures of this generation.1865, Thomas Carlyle, History of Friedrich II. of Prussia, Vol. XXI. (of XXI.):
1 more example
That word is bezzle. It describes the period in which an embezzler has stolen a man's money but the victim does not yet realize he's been swindled.2015 December 3, Tracy Alloway, “There's Been a Bezzle-Fueled Boom in Bonds”, in Markets, Bloomberg News, retrieved 16 Aug 2021:
2
Ambitransitive To obtain (money or property) by fraudulent or deceitful methods.
She swindled more than £200 out of me.
3
Board games, Chess, Games For a player in a losing position to play a clever move that provokes an error from the opponent, thus achieving a win or a draw.
Etymology Back-formation from swindler, from German Schwindler, from German schwindeln, from Middle High German swindeln, swindelen, from Old High German swintilōn, frequentative of the verb swintan, from Proto-West Germanic *swindan (“to diminish”). See also Modern German schwindeln, Danish svindel and svindle, Dutch zwindelen and zwendelen, Yiddish שווינדל (shvindl), Low German swinneln, Middle English swinden (“to languish, waste away”).
1
An instance of swindling.
There were men there who had committed merciless robberies, cruel murders, heartless swindles, abominable depravities.1914, Julian Hawthorne, chapter 16, in The Subterranean Brotherhood:
[T]he scandal was the pretty common one of a corrupt agreement between hotel proprietors and a salesman who took and gave secret commissions, so that his business had a monopoly of all the drink sold in the place. It wasn't even an open slavery like an ordinary tied house; it was a swindle at the expense of everybody the manager was supposed to serve.1935, G. K. Chesterton, The Scandal of Father Brown:
2
Anything that is deceptively not what it appears to be.
3
Board games, Chess, Games An instance wherein a player in a losing position plays a clever move that provokes an error from the opponent, thus achieving a win or a draw.