snake-oil en · VERB
Etymology
From snake oil.
Meanings
-
(informal, transitive) To dupe or con.
And this is particularly so for many of our women students who have been hustled and snake-oiled to deny the validity of their intellects.
1995, Nancy Owen Nelson, editor, Private Voices, Public Lives:Before she had a chance to deal with her hangover, he was on the phone snake-oiling her into the first of what would be many ill-fated fraud cases.
2013, Thomas Pynchon, Bleeding Edge, Vintage, published 2014, page 23:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| snake-oiled | Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| snake-oiled | Tense=Past | lexicographic | |
| snake-oiling | Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| snake-oils | Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres | lexicographic |