bribe
/brʌɪb
/verb [with object]
Dishonestly persuade (someone) to act in one’s favour by a gift of money or other inducement: they attempted to bribe opponents into losing [with object and infinitive]: they had bribed an official to sell them a certificate...
- No matter how much money she bribed the men with, they didn't let her enter the library, or even order a book.
- Did they tip the balance in their favour by bribing officials?
- We can then use that money to pay for lawsuits, malpractice, and bribing politicians… I mean lobbying politicians.
Synonyms
buy off, pay off, suborn, give an inducement to, corrupt
informal grease someone's palm, give someone a backhander, give someone a sweetener, keep someone sweet, get at, fix, square
British informal nobble
noun
A sum of money or other inducement offered or given to bribe someone: lawmakers were caught accepting bribes to bring in legalized gambling...
- They've gone as far as illegal activities - offering bribes on the floor of the House, holding votes open for three hours.
- They will probably have to pay larger bribes and offer better terms to overcome their questionable past.
- But as long as others are free to offer bribes, some will try to buy special licenses to bypass the monopoly.
Synonyms
inducement, ‘incentive’;
North American payola
informal backhander, pay-off, kickback, sweetener, carrot
British informal bung, dropsy
North American informal plugola, schmear
Australian informal sling
rare douceur, drop
Derivatives
bribable
/ adjective ...- Nobody could be that big a set of corrupt, easily bribable morons.
- If the attacker is in some country with bribable police, there's nothing you can do anyway.
- She didn't know much about doctors, but judges were bribable, police was bribable, the whole world was bribable.
briber
/ noun ...- I have been offered bribes in the past, which had hilarious consequences for the briber.
- The briber would rather pay the money than have the information revealed.
- Regardless of the briber's intentions, paying for turnout is illegal in federal elections.
Origin
Late Middle English: from Old French briber, brimber 'beg', of unknown origin. The original sense was 'rob, extort', hence (as a noun) 'theft, stolen goods', also 'money extorted or demanded for favours', later 'offer money as an inducement' (early 16th century).