The AI-powered English dictionary
plural shills
A person paid to endorse a product while pretending to be impartial. quotations examples
You’ve Got Mail is certainly the basic model for the plot, which finds corporate candy shill Joel ([Paul] Rudd) and indie-sweetshop owner Molly ([Amy] Poehler) regaling their dinner companions with the very long, digressive story of how they met and fell in love.
2014 June 26, A. A. Dowd, “Paul Rudd and Amy Poehler Spoof Rom-com Clichés in They Came Together”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 7 December 2017
Witnesses have testified that Jim Jones (like a few other professional faith-healers) used shills part of the time […]
1983, Robert Anton Wilson, Prometheus Rising
(derogatory) Any person paid to endorse a product. examples
An accomplice at a confidence trick during an auction or gambling game. quotations examples
The pitchman swept his cane in a slow acceleration over the heads of the crowd and then suddenly pointed the silver cap toward Billy and the shill.
1994, Cormac McCarthy, The Crossing
(gambling) A house player in a casino. quotations examples
There may even be a casino shill sitting adjacent to you. Normally, the casino shills are gorgeous women, and sometimes men, so enjoy the scenery.
2000, Dennis R. Harrison, Casino Gambling: Your Absolute, Quintessential, All You Wanted to Know ...
third-person singular simple present shills, present participle shilling, simple past and past participle shilled
(derogatory) To promote or endorse in return for payment, especially dishonestly. quotations examples
Today there are even commercials in which real scientists, some of considerable distinction, shill for corporations. They teach that scientists too will lie for money. As Tom Paine warned, inuring us to lies lays the groundwork for many other evils.
1996, Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World
Over the last six months, as A-list celebrities have shilled for digital currencies and NFTs, Mr. McKenzie, a TV actor best known for his starring role in “The O.C.,” has become an outspoken skeptic.
2022 March 31, David Yaffe-Bellany, “Ben McKenzie Would Like a Word With the Crypto Bros”, in The New York Times
To put under cover; to sheal. examples
(UK, obsolete, dialect) To shell.