boodlingn.
/ˈbuːdl̩ɪŋ/, /ˈbuːdlɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈbud(ə)lɪŋ/ slang (originally and chiefly U.S.).
The action or practice of offering, accepting, or spending money illegally or improperly, esp. in connection with the obtaining or holding of public office; bribery and corruption in public life; misappropriation or embezzlement of public funds.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > fees and taxes > illegal payment or exaction > [noun] > bribe > bribery
meedc1275
corruptionc1425
bribing?c1524
suborning?1532
bribery1560
budding1640
subornation1670
palmistry1828
palm-greasing1832
boodling1886
a greasing of palms1889
sugaring1891
fix1929
pay-off1930
schmear1950
long leg1967
1886 Milwaukee (Wisconsin) Daily Jrnl. 28 June (heading) Boodling is all right.
1903 N.Y. Evening Post 31 Aug. We fancy that the people of Missouri will conclude to diminish boodling rather by taking from than adding to the powers of the dominant machine.
1965 Jrnl. Amer. Hist. 52 93 Because ‘boodling’ had become such a well-organized and large-scale business, the Board had been stripped of most of its powers.
2009 St. Louis (Missouri) Post-Dispatch (Nexis) 23 Feb. a18 From billion-dollar insider contracts in Washington to small-time boodling at local city halls and fire districts.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2018; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.1886