To fling dust or snuff in the eyes of the person intended to be robbed; also to invent some plausible tale, to delude shop-keepers and others, thereby to put them off their guard. Cant.
Definition taken from The 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, originally by Francis Grose.
Ames Ace * AmusersNathan Bailey's 1736 Dictionary of canting and thieving slang
John S. Farmer's collection of canting songs and slang rhymes