Function:
transitive verb
Date: 1822
;
wares, tricks, etc., upon the unwary. As in to pass off by deception.
to
dispose of usually by
trickery or
guile
;
pass off,
fob off. To circulate an inferior or spurious item. To pretend something more valuable than it is, sell or give by trickery
Idioms: cross someone's palm, grease someone's palm, itchy palm, impose upon, practice upon, play upon, put upon, foist upon; snatch a verdict; bluff off, bluff; bunko, four flush, gum U.S., spoof, stuff (a ballot box) U.S..
The origin of the word appears to have begun as a reference to jugglers when they seemed to get rid of an object in some other way while hiding it in the palm of their hand. These jugglers were sometimes called palmers. It replaced the earlier definition of palm on in the early 1800s.