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mountebank Definition

moun·te·bank (mo̵unt′ə baŋk′)

noun

  1. Archaic a person who mounted a bench, or platform, in a public place and sold quack medicines, usually attracting an audience by tricks, stories, etc.
  2. any charlatan, or quack

Etymology: It montambanco < montare, mount + in, on + banco, a bench: see bank

intransitive verb

to act as a mountebank

Related Forms:

mountebank Synonyms

mountebank

n.

pretender, charlatan, huckster; see cheat 1, impostor, quack. See syn. study at quack.

mountebank Usage Examples

Converse of object

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mountebank Quotes

   I remember when our whole island was shaken with an earthquake some years ago, there was an impudent mountebank who sold pills which (as he told the country people) were very good against an earthquake.

—Addison,Joseph

It is the story of a mountebank and his zany.

—Walpole, Horace, 4th Earl of Orford