A fraudulent, ineffective potion or nostrum; panacea.
Any product with exaggerated marketing but questionable or unverifiable quality.
Snake oil is a traditional Chinese medicine used to treat joint pain.
A type of 19th century patent medicine sold in the United States that claimed to contain snake fat, supposedly a Native American remedy for various ailments.
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Nearby phrases
Some more phrases from our dictionary similar to snake oil
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"snake oil." Phrases.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 17 Nov. 2024. <https://www.phrases.com/idioms/snake-oil>.
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