I. ˈthimbəlˌrig noun
1. : a sleight-of-hand trick that is often practiced as a swindling operation (as at a fair) and that is played with three small cups shaped like thimbles and a small ball or pea that is so quickly shifted from under one cup to under another that the person watching is often misled — compare shell game
2. : thimblerigger
II. transitive verb
1. : to swindle by thimblerig
2. : to cheat by trickery
• thim·ble·rig·ger -gə(r) noun