means To cheat someone out of money or property through deception or fraud.

from German hands us this one: from 'Schwindler,' a cheat or giddy person, born of the verb 'schwindeln' — to be dizzy, to reel, and by extension to tell tall tales or defraud. The root idea is light-headedness, a swimming sensation, which is why English 'swindle' is cousin to 'swoon' and 'dwindle' through the old Germanic root meaning to fade or grow faint. The word arrived in English in the late 18th century, reportedly carried in by German-Jewish immigrants in London, and the 'dizzy' sense fits perfectly — a swindler leaves you reeling, wondering where your money went.