to thimblerig your way out
- phrasal verb
- Archaic
:
escabullirse
- Don't try to thimblerig your way out of this mess!
Examples
-
Instead of admitting the mistake, she attempted to thimblerig her way out with clever excuses.
-
She managed to thimblerig her way out of the tricky situation.
-
He tried to thimblerig his way out of paying the fine, but it didn't work.
-
You can't thimblerig your way out of this situation.
-
He tried to thimblerig his way out of paying the fine, but it didn't work.
-
Instead of admitting the mistake, she attempted to thimblerig her way out with clever excuses.
-
She managed to thimblerig her way out of the tricky situation.
Synonyms
326
3.5
To make someone believe something false so you can get what you want
11
7.4
To make someone believe something that is not true
11
4.7
To beat someone by being more clever than them
10
8.2
To avoid doing something you should do by being dishonest or tricky
7
8.2
To trick someone by hiding the truth
2
7.0
Avoid a duty or problem by making excuses
1
8.7
To get something by clever or dishonest ways
1
7.4
Succeed in a difficult situation by pretending to know what you are doing
1
9.5
To trick someone by using clever talk
1
9.9
To trick someone to take their money or things
To avoid taking responsibility by lying or being vague
To avoid answering or taking responsibility by using clever words
Avoid a difficult situation by lying or making excuses
Antonyms
How Deceptive
- Archaic
- Informal
1
7.4
Surface Forms
Morphology
The key verb 'thimblerig' is rare and etymologically tied to a cheating shell-game; it is not decomposable into familiar morphemes and its deceitful sense is not derivable from the literal parts. While 'your way out' (method of escape) is transparent, the overall sense of escaping by trickery depends on the idiomatic, gambling-derived verb, so a B1 learner knowing the literal words would not predict the meaning without prior exposure.
Etymology
Thimblerig your way out comes from the old street game thimblerig, where a small ball is hidden under thimbles and a quick trickster moves them to make people pick the wrong thimble. So Thimblerig your way out means to 'escape' a problem by tricking or fooling others with clever moves or lies.