griftn.1
dialect.
(See quot. 1889.)
ΚΠ
1851 Jrnl. Royal Agric. Soc. 12 ii. 313 The waters..form the main drains for the low lands under the names of ‘cloughs’, ‘eaus’, ‘fleets’, and ‘grifts’.
1889 E. Peacock Gloss. Words Manley & Corringham, Lincs. (ed. 2) Grift, a channel shaped out by water for itself; a runnel.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1900; most recently modified version published online June 2018).
griftn.2
/ɡrɪft/, U.S. /ɡrɪft/ U.S. slang.
= graft n.5
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > moral evil > lack of principle or integrity > [noun] > dishonesty > action
brokery1602
trinketing1646
adultery1753
traffickery1838
hanky-panky1841
grafting1859
shystering1860
graft1865
skulduggery1867
sharp practice1869
in and out work1888
by-practice1913
grift1914
dirty pool1973
1914 L. E. Jackson & C. R. Hellyer Vocab. Criminal Slang 39 Grift,..graft.
1929 D. Hammett Dain Curse (1930) iii. 21 ‘How's the literary grift go?’ I asked. He looked at me sharply.
1931 W. Faulkner Sanctuary xxvii. 327 ‘If you'll just promise to get the kid a good newspaper grift when he's old enough to make change,’ he said.
1940 R. Chandler Farewell, my Lovely xxxiii. 157 Hell, I thought he sold reefers. With the right protection behind him. But hell, that's a small-time racket. A peanut grift.
1961 J. F. Johnson Man who sold Eiffel Tower (1962) iv. 52 A good confidence man..has to have what is known as ‘grift sense’.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1972; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
griftv.
/ɡrɪft/, U.S. /ɡrɪft/ U.S. slang.
= graft v.4
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > moral evil > lack of principle or integrity > be unprincipled [verb (intransitive)] > act dishonestly
smouch1848
graft1859
grift1926
to pull a stroke1970
1926 Flynn's 31 Jan. Grift, to steal; to graft.
1940 Amer. Speech 15 110/2 Grift, to work any profession included in the grift.
1955 Publ. Amer. Dial. Soc. No. 24. 144 Tim Bairdon used to grift with a buzzer on his vest.
Derivatives
ˈgrifting n. and adj.
ΚΠ
1915 G. Bronson-Howard God's Man iv. iv. 263 Grifting ain't what it used to be. Fourteenth Street's got protection down to a system—a regular underworld tariff on larceny.
1956 H. Gold Man who was not with It (1965) ii. 10 Grifting troubadours, bonnie princes of con with ten-gallon hats.
1956 H. Gold Man who was not with It (1965) ii. 16 How long you been grifting?
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1972; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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