Shill
WordNet
noun
(1) A decoy who acts as an enthusiastic customer in order to stimulate the participation of others
verb
(2) Act as a shill
"The shill bid for the expensive carpet during the auction in order to drive the price up"
WiktionaryText
Etymology
Origin uncertain; perhaps an abbreviation of the Category:Yiddish entries which need Hebrew script . The word originally denoted a carnival worker who pretends to be a member of the audience in an attempt to elicit interest in an attraction.
Noun
- A person paid to endorse a product favourably, while pretending to be impartial.
- An accomplice at a confidence trick during an auction or gambling game.
Quotations
- 1983, Robert Anton Wilson, Prometheus Rising,
- Witnesses have testified that Jim Jones (like a few other professional faith-healers) used shills part of the time....
- 1994, Cormac McCarthy, The Crossing,
- 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.
- 1996, Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World,
- 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.