Gammoned

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Deceived or fooled someone with a false story ; beat an opponent in backgammon by winning before they removed any checkers ; secured a bowsprit to the ship's bow with rope lashings
2. Tricked or hoaxed a person into believing something untrue ; won a double victory over a backgammon rival who had borne off no pieces ; fastened a bowsprit firmly to a vessel's stem with lashings
3. Misled someone through trickery or pretence ; achieved a doubled win in backgammon against an opponent still holding checkers ; bound a projecting spar to the prow of a ship with ropes

Etymology: "Gammoned" is the past form of "gammon", a verb that descends from Old English "gamnian", meaning to joke or play. It is related to the modern "game", and its history runs separately from the noun, which is a different word that happens to share its spelling. The noun comes from Old French "gambon", meaning ham, from "gambe" (leg). That French word traces back to Late Latin "gamba", which goes back to Ancient Greek "kampē", meaning a bend. English "gammon" and French "jambon" are doublets, two forms of one word that entered the language by different routes. The most recent twist is the one many readers have seen. In 2017, the phrase "Great Wall of Gammon" gained popularity, likening red-faced people to the rosy colour of cured pork. The image was already in use earlier, and the BBC points to a 2016 use of "gammon face".

Synonyms: deceive, hoax, trick, con, dupe

Antonyms: undeceive