ˈshell game BrE AmE noun [countable] American English
a dishonest method of doing something, in which you pretend to be doing one thing when you are really doing another:
Critics called the proposal a shell game.
ˈshell game BrE AmE noun [countable] American English
a dishonest method of doing something, in which you pretend to be doing one thing when you are really doing another:
Critics called the proposal a shell game.
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English. Longman - Словарь современного английского языка. 2012