Dictionary of Phrase and Fable—B

Bamboozle

To cheat by cunning, or daze with tricks.

“The third refinement observable in the letter I send you, consists of the choice of certain words invented by some pretty fellows, such as banter, bamboozle ... and kidney ... some of which are now struggling for the vogue, and others are in possession of it.” —Swift: The Tatler (Sept. 28, 1710).

To bamboozle into
(doing something). To induce by trickery.

To bamboozle one out of something.
To get something by trickery.

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
Bampton Lectures
Bamboccio
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