palm off

verb

palmed off; palming off; palms off

transitive verb

1
: to dispose of usually by trickery or guile
2
: pass off sense 2
palming himself off as a ministerToni Morrison

Examples of palm off in a Sentence

please stop trying to palm off your leftovers onto me
Recent Examples on the Web And there’s an art to delegating, without seemingly palming off work to your team. Orianna Rosa Royle, Fortune, 2 Mar. 2023 Giannoli’s narrator lays out press performance in Balzacian details that sound absolutely contemporary: News, debate, and ideas had become goods to palm off on subscribers. Armond White, National Review, 10 June 2022 However, in spite of this price increase and attempts to palm off blame, there is hardly any middle-class anger even resembling that which existed during the last years of the UPA. Shoaib Daniyal, Quartz India, 21 Feb. 2021

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'palm off.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1822, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of palm off was in 1822

Dictionary Entries Near palm off

Cite this Entry

“Palm off.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/palm%20off. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

palm off

verb
: to get rid of or pass on (as something fake, useless, or of poor quality) in a dishonest way
palmed off fake antiques on unsuspecting customers

Legal Definition

palm off

transitive verb
: to sell or attempt to sell (a product) by inducing buyers to believe that one's product is actually the product of another
specifically : to attempt to sell (a product) under another's trademark or trade name

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