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snake oil

A fraudulent, ineffective potion or nostrum; panacea.
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Submitted on September 01, 2009

Additional definitions for 'snake oil':

snake oilA 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.
snake oilAny product with exaggerated marketing but questionable or unverifiable quality.
snake oilSnake oil is a traditional Chinese medicine used to treat joint pain.
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Nearby phrases

Some more phrases from our dictionary similar to snake oil

oil colouroil and wateroil upthe squeaky wheel gets the grease/oilPour Oil on Troubled Watersoil paintingmad as a cut snakeSnake in the Grassoil burneroil trashoil burneroil burnermad as a cut snakepour oil on troubled waters

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