pigeon drop

noun

1. a confidence game or sleight-of-hand swindle whereby cash is extracted from the victim as collateral for a supposed share in a large sum of discovered money, dishonest profits, or gambling winnings, which in fact are nonexistent.

Word History and Origins

Origin of pigeon drop¹

1935–40, Americanism; so called because such swindles originally began with the dropping of a wallet in front of the intended victim, the pigeon

Example Sentences

I gather from the letters that these people’s lives were devastated by the advent of gay marriage, political correctness, the threat of gun control and the arrogance of liberals, and now a champion rises from Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue and East 56th Street, and God forbid that any dog should bark when he speaks or any pigeon drop white matter on his limousine.

From Washington Post