defraud
UK /dɪˈfɹɔːd/ · US /dɪˈfɹɔd/ verb
Forms defrauds defrauding defrauded defraude
- verb (transitive) To obtain money or property from (a person) by fraud; to swindle.
- verb (archaic) To deprive.
Synonyms
victimize swindle rook goldbrick nobble diddle bunco scam mulct gyp gip hornswoggle short-change con
Etymology
From Middle English defrauden, from Old French defrauder, from de- + frauder.
Webster’s 1913
- verb To deprive of some right, interest, or property, by a deceitful device; to withhold from wrongfully; to injure by embezzlement; to cheat; to overreach; as, to defraud a servant, or a creditor, or the state; --with of before the thing taken or withheld.
Etymology [L. defraudare; de- + fraudare to cheat, fr. fraus, fraudis, fraud: cf. OF. defrauder. See Fraud.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “defraud”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details