shill
Part of speech: noun
verb
Morphological type: simple
Topics: gambling
games
Etymology: Unknown; attested as verb 1914, as noun 1916. Perhaps an abbreviation of shillaber, attested 1913. The word entered English via carny, originally denoting a carnival worker who pretends to be a member of the audience in an attempt to elicit interest in an attraction.
Speculatively an extended form of German Schieber (“black marketeer, profiteer”) via *shi-la-ber.
There are some suggestions that it originates in the surname Shilaber or Shillibeer, especially George Shillibeer, but proposed origins are dubious as the word is first attested in North America in the 20th century, while proposed models are 19th century British.
American humorist Benjamin Penhallow Shillaber (1814–1890) was known to write under the name Mrs. Ruth Partington to lend credibility to some of his ideas. This is one more possible origin of the word, although there is no specific evidence supporting a connection.
Inflected forms:
form: shills
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: shills
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: shilling
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: shilled
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: shilled
pos: verb
tags: past
Senses:
gloss: A person paid to endorse a product while pretending to be impartial.
pos: noun
examples: carnival barkers and their shills, fleecing the rubes
Witnesses have testified that Jim Jones (like a few other professional faith-healers) used shills part of the time […]
You’ve Got Mail is certainly the basic model for the plot, which finds corporate candy shill Joel ([Paul] Rudd) and indie-sweetshop owner Molly ([Amy] Poehler) regaling their dinner companions with the very long, digressive story of how they met and fell in love.
gloss: Any person enthusiastically endorsing a product; especially, one who is getting paid for the endorsement.
pos: noun
tags: derogatory
examples: On the screen, there was that quack again, playing the shill for yet another drug company.
Meanwhile, an influence operation by Iranian shill accounts began amplifying commentary critical of the war almost immediately after the first US strikes on Iran.
gloss: An accomplice at a confidence trick during an auction or gambling game, such as an accomplice of the seller who bids to drive up the price.
pos: noun
examples: Near-synonyms: inside man, potted plant (contextually synonymous)
Sniping is necessary because if you bid before the last minute it just gives the shills more time to screw you over.
The pitchman swept his cane in a slow acceleration over the heads of the crowd and then suddenly pointed the silver cap toward Billy and the shill.
When a likely customer walks by, one of the shills says something like, “You've got to play this game. This idiot is giving away money.”
gloss: A house player in a casino.
pos: noun
examples: There may even be a casino shill sitting adjacent to you. Normally, the casino shills are gorgeous women, and sometimes men, so enjoy the scenery.
gloss: To promote or endorse in return for payment, especially dishonestly; sometimes extended sarcastically even to those not paid but strongly biased in favor.
pos: verb
tags: derogatory
intransitive
transitive
examples: That contractor seems to be shilling for a certain brand of building materials.
That contractor seems to be shilling that specific epoxy.
Today there are even commercials in which real scientists, some of considerable distinction, shill for corporations. They teach that scientists too will lie for money. As Tom Paine warned, inuring us to lies lays the groundwork for many other evils.
Over the last six months, as A-list celebrities have shilled for digital currencies and NFTs, Mr. McKenzie, a TV actor best known for his starring role in “The O.C.,” has become an outspoken skeptic.
Synonyms: shillaber
Related words: knockout auction
Derived words: Shillary
shillmon
Translations: