badger game

noun

1. an extortion scheme in which a woman places a man in a compromising position and then victimizes him by demanding money when her male accomplice, pretending to be an outraged husband or relative, enters and threatens violence, scandal, etc.

Word History and Origins

Origin of badger game¹

First recorded in 1895–1900

Idioms and Phrases

An extortion scheme in which a man is lured into a compromising position, usually by a woman, and then is “discovered” and blackmailed by her associate. For example, The prosecutor accused the couple of playing the badger game . The term alludes to the much older sport of badger-baiting, in which a live badger was trapped and put inside a box and dogs were set on it to drag it out. The woman in the scheme is the “badger.” [Late 1800s]

Example Sentences

The Wolverines have a zillion rivals; a Badger game is nothing to them compared to an Ohio State game, or playing Notre Dame or Sparty or just sitting around talking about how great the Fab Five were.

From Wall Street Journal

But see here," cried Mills at last, "I'm not stuck on my looks, or my shape, but the old badger game--why that's positively an insult.

From Project Gutenberg

Nationally Bulgaria has never shone in the badger game of territorial expansion.

From Time Magazine Archive

Lively as you please, this "comic experience in two acts" involves redoubtable Mr. Cohan, impersonating an ill-used old bachelor, in a badger game.

From Time Magazine Archive

Jones at first failed to realize that he had been victimized by . . . the . . . 'badger game.'

From Time Magazine Archive