skin gamen.
/ˈskɪn ɡeɪm/, U.S. /ˈskɪn ˌɡeɪm/ 1. slang.
a. U.S. An unfair or rigged gambling game, esp. of cards. Now chiefly historical.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > other types of game > [noun] > cheating or impossible to win
skin game1863
brace game1875
1863 J. S. Sauzade Garret van Horn xxiii. 359 The gambler, in for cheating a ‘yank’ at a skin-game of faro.
1868 M. H. Smith Sunshine & Shadow in N.Y. 405 The square game..is played only by gentlemen, and in first-class houses;..the skin game..is played in all the dens and chambers, and in the thousand low hells of New York.
1882 J. D. McCabe New York xxxix. 545 The ‘skin game’ is used, with the majority of the visitors, for the proprietor is determined from the outset to fleece them without mercy.
1903 A. Adams Log of Cowboy xvii. 272 ‘When I want a skin game,’ said John, as he arose, ‘I'll come back and see you.’
2002 New Republic 13 May 25/3 Much of Parks's essentially actionless play..is taken up with demonstrations of this skin game, as Lincoln flips the cards around the table.
b. Originally U.S. In extended use: a fraudulent deal or piece of business; a swindle, a scam. Also: an activity considered to be characterized by fraudulent or dishonest dealings.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > cheating, fraud > [noun] > instance of
braida1000
fraudc1374
mock1523
brogue1537
flim-flamc1538
imposture1548
lie1560
cozening1576
smoke-hole1580
gullery1598
gull1600
cog1602
coggery1602
fraudulency1630
imposition1632
cheat1649
fourbery1650
prestige1656
sham1677
crimp1684
bite1711
humbug1750
swindle1778
hookum-snivey1781
shim-sham1797
gag1805
intake1808
racket1819
wooden nutmeg1822
sell1838
caper1851
skin game1879
Kaffir bargain1899
swizzle1913
swizz1915
put-on1919
ready-up1924
rort1926
jack-up1945
1879 N.-Y. Times 27 Nov. 4/1 If the Tribune likes the business of acting as ‘steerer’ to a skin game, it is entirely welcome to retain the journalistic monopoly of it.
1904 W. H. Smith Promoters 98 We built the bridges finally,..for we weren't really working a skin game.
1920 J. Galsworthy Skin Game i. 19 She wants to sell, an' she'll get her price, whatever it is. Hillcrist. (With deep anger) If that isn't a skin game..I don't know what is.
1958 Economist 1 Feb. 398/2 The..ironies of German political life: the strange mixture of elements..that mingle in the Bonn skin game.
1973 ‘E. McGirr’ Bardel's Murder i. 10 As a very small [antiques] dealer, I was no opposition... His business is rather a skin game.
2005 H. Crowther Gather at River i. 26 Agents and editors, whose most certain skill is understanding authors' egos, continue to lure their writers into this skin game of instant gratification and diminishing returns.
2. U.S. (chiefly in African-American usage). = skin n. 25; a game of this.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > games of chance > games of chance played with cards > [noun] > others
banker1874
wappie1902
Georgia skin1911
skin1923
skin game1935
1935 Z. N. Hurston Mules & Men i. vii. 161 Ah shot a man once up in West Florida, killed him dead for bull-dozin' me in a skin game.
1969 R. D. Pharr Bk. of Numbers (1970) x. 116 She ain't looking for no husband at all. Much less one of these Block hustlers that ain't got no future other than getting his throat cut in a Gawja skin game.
1978 R. Moore & S. Levine Big Paddle (1979) i. 15 Larsen loves skin. He'll go all over looking for a skin game.
1999 L. Dahl Morning Glory ii. 25 The game was generally ‘skin’—the Georgia skin game—and the players would all be men.
3. Golf (originally and chiefly North American). = skins game n. (a) at skin n. Compounds 5.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > golf > [noun] > types of game or match
round1744
match-playing1857
half-round1865
foursome1867
matchplay1877
stroke-game1896
threesome1901
score-play1902
stroke-competition1904
score-game1905
greensome1911
fivesome1928
skin game1942
three-ball1952
1942 Washington Post 13 Apr. 19/4 McLister was playing a skin game with R. T. Harrell and Jimmy Corcoran, from the back of the tournament tees.
1998 Fairways of France 10/1 (advt.) Skin game for the 5 best pro scores.
2008 Fiji Times (Nexis) 5 Jan. 85 This was at the Vatuwaqa course in Suva for a social round of 18 holes of skin game.
4. slang. The pornography industry. Cf. skin trade n. (b) at skin n. Compounds 5.
ΚΠ
1970 Times Educ. Suppl. 18 Dec. 1/1 The censor and the skin game.
1976 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 7 Jan. 10/3 The long-respected publication had been sold and new publishers had changed big game to the skin game.
2002 Headpress No. 24. 12/2 Once upon a time, it's true, there were people making a quick killing in the skin game, without needing to he a porn genius.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2009; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.1863