thimblerig
/ˈθɪmb(ə)lrɪɡ
/noun [mass noun]
A game involving sleight of hand, in which three inverted thimbles or cups are moved about, contestants having to spot which is the one with a pea or other object underneath.Select your character and find it hidden beneath one of the three containers in the game of thimblerig....
- Find the Lady is, except for the props used, essentially the same as the probably centuries-older shell game or thimblerig.
- There was Dr. Bennett, a riverboat gambler who invented thimblerig and could still outwit the best of them at 70.
Derivatives
thimblerigger
- The sort of stuff that thimbleriggers and sleight-of-hand artists peddled off the backs of wagons to gawping farmhands and country bumpkins back in the 19th century.
- But thimbleriggers are masters of sleight of hand and can move and manipulate the seed unfairly - so the guileless player doesn't stand a chance of winning.
- You'll find thimbleriggers frequently, but don't be misled to play the three shells game, you'll lose!
Origin
Early 19th century: from thimble + rig2 in the sense 'trick, dodge'.