shill

noun

1. A person paid to endorse a product while pretending to be impartial.

   “carnival barkers and their shills, fleecing the rubes”

   “Witnesses have testified that Jim Jones (like a few other professional faith-healers) used shills part of the time […]”

   “You’ve Got Mail is certainly the basic model for the plot, which finds corporate candy shill Joel ([Paul] Rudd) and indie-sweetshop owner Molly ([Amy] Poehler) regaling their dinner companions with the very long, digressive story of how they met and fell in love.”

2. (derogatory)Any person enthusiastically endorsing a product; especially, one who is getting paid for the endorsement.

   “On the screen, there was that quack again, playing the shill for yet another drug company.”

   “Meanwhile, an influence operation by Iranian shill accounts began amplifying commentary critical of the war almost immediately after the first US strikes on Iran.”

3. An accomplice at a confidence trick during an auction or gambling game, such as an accomplice of the seller who bids to drive up the price.

   “Near-synonyms: inside man, potted plant (contextually synonymous)”

   “Sniping is necessary because if you bid before the last minute it just gives the shills more time to screw you over.”

   “The pitchman swept his cane in a slow acceleration over the heads of the crowd and then suddenly pointed the silver cap toward Billy and the shill.”

   “When a likely customer walks by, one of the shills says something like, “You've got to play this game. This idiot is giving away money.””

4. A house player in a casino.

   “There may even be a casino shill sitting adjacent to you. Normally, the casino shills are gorgeous women, and sometimes men, so enjoy the scenery.”

verb

1. (derogatory, intransitive, transitive)To promote or endorse in return for payment, especially dishonestly; sometimes extended sarcastically even to those not paid but strongly biased in favor.

   “That contractor seems to be shilling for a certain brand of building materials.”

   “That contractor seems to be shilling that specific epoxy.”

   “Today there are even commercials in which real scientists, some of considerable distinction, shill for corporations. They teach that scientists too will lie for money. As Tom Paine warned, inuring us to lies lays the groundwork for many other evils.”

   “Over the last six months, as A-list celebrities have shilled for digital currencies and NFTs, Mr. McKenzie, a TV actor best known for his starring role in “The O.C.,” has become an outspoken skeptic.”

2. To put under cover; to sheal.
3. (UK, dialectal, obsolete)To shell.

name

1. A surname.