قاموس اللغة الإنجليزية

A sleight-of-hand trick played with three small cups, shaped like thimbles, and a small ball or little pea.

To swindle by means of small cups or thimbles, and a pea or small ball placed under one of them and quickly shifted to another, the victim laying a wager that he knows under which cup it is; hence, to cheat by any trick.