Definition of "mountebank" [mount•e•bank]

• A hawker of quack medicines who attracts customers with stories, jokes, or tricks. (noun)
• A flamboyant charlatan. (noun)
• To act as a mountebank. (verb-intransitive)
• Archaic To ensnare or prevail over with trickery. (verb-transitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "In those days, pundit would have more likely been a synonym for 'mountebank', a delicious word, which has disappeared from usage."
• "He spoke the word "mountebank" sneeringly, and John flushed."
• "He went instantly to the prison, descended to the cell of the "mountebank," called him by name, took him by the hand, and spoke to him."