Meaning & use
monte
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Meanings
noununcountable
A gambling card game of Spanish origin, played with a Spanish deck, in which players bet on which cards will appear.
Grammar: Used without an article: they played monte.
Patterns
- play monte
- deal monte
Settlers in the old West often played monte in saloons.
The history book describes monte as a favorite game of gold miners.
He lost a month's pay at monte.
noununcountableinformal
A street swindle in which a dealer moves three cards and bets that onlookers cannot follow the winning card, usually called three-card monte.
Grammar: Almost always as three-card monte, though monte alone is sometimes used.
Patterns
- play three-card monte
- run a three-card monte game
Tourists gathered around a table where a man ran three-card monte.
Police warned visitors that three-card monte is a scam.
The dealer shuffled the cards in a quick monte routine.
Common combinations
- three-card monte
- He lost twenty dollars to three-card monte on the street.
- play monte
- Cowboys used to play monte after a cattle drive.
- monte dealer
- The monte dealer's hands moved fast.
- monte game
- A monte game was set up on a cardboard box.
- monte table
- A monte table was folded away whenever a police officer came near.
Synonyms and how they differ
- shell game
- A shell game uses cups or shells to hide a pea, while three-card monte uses cards, but both are tricks that hide the winning item.
- scam
- Scam is any dishonest trick for money, whereas monte names a specific one.
- con
- Con is a general word for a trick that wins trust and money, while monte names the card version.
- swindle
- Swindle is more formal and general, with no link to cards.
Word family
- three-card monte noun
- the street con game using three cards
- monty noun
- part of the British phrase the full monty
- Monte Carlo proper noun
- a district of Monaco, famous for its casino
- monte dealer noun
- the person who runs a monte game
Commonly confused: monte or monty?
monte vs monty
The full monty is a British phrase meaning everything, and it is unrelated to the card game monte.
Practice
In which situation might you see three-card monte played?
Choose one answer.
Three-card monte is a street scam in which a dealer takes bets on finding the right card. The other settings do not involve this game.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “monte”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.