(Gambling, except Cards) a game in which the operator rapidly moves about three inverted thimbles, often with sleight of hand, one of which conceals a token, the other player betting on which thimble the token is under
vb, -rigs, -riggingor-rigged
(Gambling, except Cards) (tr) to cheat or swindle, as in this game
[C19: from thimble + rig (in obsolete sense: a trick, scheme)]
He is captured, and reluctantly joins the pirate ship Thimblerig. Tom's adventures proceed at breakneck pace, he becomes accepted as a crew member and befriends Captain Shearwater's niece, Rosie, who accompanies him on his exploits.
One was derived from their standard con, something Fields mysteriously referred to as "the old army game." Alternately known as "the shell game" and "thimblerig," this was the precursor to the contemporary three-card monte (using peas and walnuts instead of cards).
In thimblerig, better known nowadays as the shell game, the gambler places a pea under one of three thimbles or, more often, walnut shells and deftly manipulates them while onlookers place bets regarding where the shell containing the pea will end up.
(6.) According to The Random House College Dictionary (1988), a shell game is "a sleight-of-hand swindling game resembling thimblerig but employing walnut shells or the like instead of cups." Id.
thimblerig - a swindling sleight-of-hand game; victim guesses which of three things a pellet is under