mountebank

Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary

Contents 1 English 1.1 Pronunciation 1.2 Noun 1.2.1 Quotations 1.2.2 See also 1.3 Verb 1.4 Derived terms

[edit] English

[edit] Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈmaʊntəˌbæŋk/
•  Audio (US)^{help, file}

[edit] Noun

mountebank (plural mountebanks)

1. One who sells dubious medicines

   There is nothing so impossible in Nature but mountebanks will undertake; nothing so incredible but they will affirm. - John Bull

2. One who sells by deception; a con artist; a charlatan.

[edit] Quotations

• For examples of the usage of this word see the citations page.

[edit] See also

• patent medicine
• snake oil
• quack

[edit] Verb

to mountebank (third-person singular simple present mountebanks, present participle mountebanking, simple past and past participle mountebanked)

1. (intransitive) To act as a mountebank

   Chide me no more. I'll mountebank their loves,
   Cog their hearts from them, and come home beloved - Coriolanus, Wm. Shakespeare

[edit] Derived terms

• mountebankery