13 November 2016
mountebank
[moun-tuh-bangk]
noun
1. a person who sells quack medicines, as from a platform in public places, attracting and influencing an audience by tricks, storytelling, etc.
2. any charlatan or quack.
verb (used without object)
3. to act or operate as a mountebank.
Origin of mountebank
Middle French, Italian
1570-1580; (< Middle French) < Italian montimbanco one who climbs on a bench, equivalent to mont (are) to climb (see mount1) + -im-, variant of in on + banco bench (see bank2)
Related forms
mountebankery [moun-tuh-bangk-uh-ree], noun
Synonyms Expand
1. pitchman. 2. phony, pretender, fraud.
Dictionary.com
Examples from the Web for mountebank Expand
Historical Examples
There was a mountebank conjurer seated on a table, performing all sorts of wonders before a gaping crowd.
John Deane of Nottingham
W.H.G. Kingston
But his natural gift was to be a mountebank, a clown, a circus Hercules.
Casa Braccio, Volumes 1 and 2 (of 2)
F. Marion Crawford
The one saw a mountebank and impostor—the other recognised a profound artist and an inspired prophet.
Ernest Maltravers, Complete
Edward Bulwer-Lytton
It was not of the least use to me that I knew he was not the illustrious general, but simply a mountebank.
A Day’s Ride
Charles James Lever
I feared the woman had no better thought than to make a mountebank of her child!
The Scarlet Letter
Nathaniel Hawthorne
If I were a mountebank or a charlatan I would claim that it cures a hundred diseases.
The Gypsies
Charles G. Leland
He seemed a youthful Magian, and almost a mountebank together.
Pierre; or The Ambiguities
Herman Melville
You must often have had your head against this mountebank jacket of mine.
The Belovd Vagabond
William J. Locke
A little while since a mountebank pair called at St. Aliquis.
Life on a Mediaeval Barony
William Stearns Davis
“So this going about as a mountebank is only a masquerade,” she said, with a touch of scorn.
The Belovd Vagabond
William J. Locke
Anagram
butane monk
Amok Unbent
A Numb Token
Bake Tom Nun
untame knob
Today’s quote
The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance – it is the illusion of knowledge.
– Daniel J. Boorstin
On this day
13 November 1940 – the prototype of the Jeep was submitted to U.S. Army for approval by car-maker Willys-Overland. Following the U.S. declaration of war 12 months later, production of the Jeep began. By the end of the war in 1945, there had been 600,000 produced.
13 November 1940 – Walt Disney releases his animated movie, Fantasia, which eventually became a cult-classic. At time of release though, the movie was not a commercial success.
13 November 1956 – The U.S. Supreme Court rules that laws which segregated buses were illegal.
13 November 1970 – the worst natural disaster of the 20th century occurs when a devastating cyclone strikes Bangladesh, killing over 500,000 people. The cyclone with 160km/h winds, caused tidal waves and storm surges which swept over the densely-populated, low-lying regions of the Ganges Delta and nearby islands.
13 November 1971 – Space voyager Mariner 9, reaches Mars and becomes the first spacecraft to orbit another planet.
13 November 2009 – NASA announces that a significant resource of water has been located on the moon by the Lunar Reconnaisance Orbiter.