Dictionary

spieler en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˈspiːlə/ (UK)

Etymology

From German Spieler (“player, gambler”) or from spiel.

Meanings

1. (Australia, New-Zealand, slang) A swindler, a gambler.
   • That a crowd of Sydney stealers, Jockeys, pugilists and spielers Brought some horses, real heelers, Came and put us through. 1891, Banjo Paterson, An Evening in Dandaloo:
   • ‘A spieler,’ Leah gently loosened the painful crab hold of the boy's hand. ‘[…] A trickster. A quandong. A ripperty man. A con-man.’ 1985, Peter Carey, Illywhacker, Faber and Faber, published 2003, page 228:
2. A gambling club.
3. A person who speaks fluently and glibly; a barker.
   • Two thousand men, women and children turned out for this giant excursion and danced and drank the day away while professional spielers extolled the virtues of the new metropolis and inveigled the unwary into investment. 1961, Vincent F. Seyfried, The Long Island Rail Road: A Comprehensive History, Part I:
   • "Bosco! He eats 'em alive! Eats 'em alive!" Brissenden exclaimed, imitating the spieler of a locally famous snake-eater. 1908 September – 1909 September, Jack London, chapter 31, in Martin Eden, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, published September 1909, →OCLC:
4. (Canada, US, informal) A radio or television announcer.

Forms

Relateds

spiel