shell game

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Every time I needed a single ingredient, I had to shuffle through a stack of identical, unlabeled bins, opening and closing them like a particularly tedious shell game.

From Salon • Mar. 19, 2026

“It’s a shell game and there’s no way to enforce this stuff because it’s all an algorithm in a black box — how we’re paid and whether or not we get benefits,” Moore said.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 14, 2024

"Your assets can be moved around in whatever shell game Binance prefers. And in the end, whenever everything crashes you're last in line," Stark told Reuters.

From Reuters • Jun. 6, 2023

An unreliable narrator is an invitation to a shell game.

From New York Times • May 16, 2023

Each had a sea sponge underneath, like a rigged shell game.

From "The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams" by Daniel Nayeri