Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1500-1600
Origin: fob 'to deceive' (16-19 centuries)

fob

1 verb
     
fob1 past tense and past participle fobbed, present participle fobbing informal

fob somebody ↔ off

phrasal verb
1 to tell someone something that is not true in order to stop them from complaining
fob somebody ↔ off with
She fobbed him off with a promise to pay him the money next week.
2 to give someone something that is not very good instead of the thing they really want
fob somebody ↔ off with
They tried to fob me off with a cheap camera.
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

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