1
: money or favor given or promised in order to influence the judgment or conduct of a person in a position of trust
police officers accused of taking bribes
2
: something that serves to induce or influence
offered the kid a bribe to finish his homework
bribed; bribing
: to influence the judgment or conduct of (someone) with or as if with offers of money or favor : to induce or influence by or as if by bribery
attempting to bribe a judge
bribing a child with candy
: to practice bribery
Synonyms
Examples of bribe in a Sentence
Noun
I offered the children a bribe for finishing their homework.
that judge refused a huge bribe to dismiss the charges against the wealthy defendant
Verb
She was arrested for attempting to bribe a judge.
They bribed him to keep quiet about the incident.
We bribed the children with candy.
Recent Examples on the Web
Alex Riggins, San Diego Union-Tribune, 18 Apr. 2024
The 55-year-old former head of the council’s Planning and Land Use Committee was sentenced in January for his role in a sprawling federal corruption case that involved him taking cash payouts and other bribes while in office.
—Grace Toohey, Los Angeles Times, 16 Apr. 2024
Federal arrest dockets and court cases are littered with examples of postal employees stealing the keys, selling the keys or taking bribes in exchange for the keys.
—Nick Devlin, CBS News, 2 Apr. 2024
He was sentenced in January 2012 to four years in prison for accepting bribes from a construction company executive in exchange for awarding contracts to that company.
—Quinlan Bentley, The Enquirer, 1 Apr. 2024
Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas takes bribes!
—Lacey Rose, The Hollywood Reporter, 14 Mar. 2024
Editor’s picks Sent undercover by the FBI, Blazer offered bribes to high level college basketball coaches in return for the coaches agreeing to surreptitiously steer their best prospects towards his financial advisory company.
—Guy Lawson, Rolling Stone, 24 Mar. 2024
The charges allege Menendez and his wife, Nadine, accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of bribes, including cash, furniture and gold bars, while using his power and influence to enrich and protect three New Jersey businessmen and benefit the governments of Egypt and Qatar.
—Caitlin Yilek, CBS News, 21 Mar. 2024
In September, after Senator Menendez was again charged with accepting bribes, a cascade of prominent Democrats in New Jersey began calling for the senator’s resignation.
—Tracey Tully, New York Times, 20 Mar. 2024
Jay Weaver, Miami Herald, 23 Apr. 2024
In 1962, he was charged with being the ringleader of the 1961 grift, colluding with mobsters and bribing players to fix games.
—Sasha Rogelberg, Fortune, 18 Apr. 2024
One of the most prominent guests was Mr. Choy, a major political donor and government contractor who would later be sentenced to more than three years in prison for bribing officials.
—Irene Casado Sanchez, New York Times, 17 Apr. 2024
In the second, Colombia’s Cali cartel allied with Mexican cartels and homegrown guerrillas to bribe officials and create more-sophisticated distribution networks.
—Samantha Schmidt, Washington Post, 12 Apr. 2024
Some seven of Avery’s crew married in New Providence and bribed Trott to sign royal pardons.
—Sean Kingsley, Smithsonian Magazine, 2 Apr. 2024
She was found guilty of having bribed officials to persuade the authorities to look away, including paying $5.2 million to a senior central bank inspector, Do Thi Nhan, who was sentenced to life in prison.
—Reuters, CNN, 11 Apr. 2024
Many Ukrainian men are evading the draft by hiding at home or trying to bribe their way out of the battle.
—Democrat-Gazette Staff From Wire Reports, arkansasonline.com, 4 Apr. 2024
Two co-conspirators of former Milwaukee Public Schools board president Michael Bonds were convicted of conspiracy to defraud the United States in federal court Wednesday after attempting to conceal taxable income from the IRS and for bribing Bonds.
—Drake Bentley, Journal Sentinel, 21 Mar. 2024
Noun
The government alleged that from at least 2006 to 2014, Francis showered the officers with bribes of fancy meals, prostitutes, high-end hotel rooms and other perks.
—Alex Riggins, San Diego Union-Tribune, 18 Apr. 2024
The 55-year-old former head of the council’s Planning and Land Use Committee was sentenced in January for his role in a sprawling federal corruption case that involved him taking cash payouts and other bribes while in office.
—Grace Toohey, Los Angeles Times, 16 Apr. 2024
Federal arrest dockets and court cases are littered with examples of postal employees stealing the keys, selling the keys or taking bribes in exchange for the keys.
—Nick Devlin, CBS News, 2 Apr. 2024
He was sentenced in January 2012 to four years in prison for accepting bribes from a construction company executive in exchange for awarding contracts to that company.
—Quinlan Bentley, The Enquirer, 1 Apr. 2024
Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas takes bribes!
—Lacey Rose, The Hollywood Reporter, 14 Mar. 2024
Editor’s picks Sent undercover by the FBI, Blazer offered bribes to high level college basketball coaches in return for the coaches agreeing to surreptitiously steer their best prospects towards his financial advisory company.
—Guy Lawson, Rolling Stone, 24 Mar. 2024
The charges allege Menendez and his wife, Nadine, accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of bribes, including cash, furniture and gold bars, while using his power and influence to enrich and protect three New Jersey businessmen and benefit the governments of Egypt and Qatar.
—Caitlin Yilek, CBS News, 21 Mar. 2024
In September, after Senator Menendez was again charged with accepting bribes, a cascade of prominent Democrats in New Jersey began calling for the senator’s resignation.
—Tracey Tully, New York Times, 20 Mar. 2024
Verb
The two-week corruption trial not only showcased Polit, but the giant Brazilian engineering firm Odebrecht, which bribed the former Ecuadorian official over several years to make $100 million in government fines on a hydroelectric power plant project disappear.
—Jay Weaver, Miami Herald, 23 Apr. 2024
In 1962, he was charged with being the ringleader of the 1961 grift, colluding with mobsters and bribing players to fix games.
—Sasha Rogelberg, Fortune, 18 Apr. 2024
One of the most prominent guests was Mr. Choy, a major political donor and government contractor who would later be sentenced to more than three years in prison for bribing officials.
—Irene Casado Sanchez, New York Times, 17 Apr. 2024
In the second, Colombia’s Cali cartel allied with Mexican cartels and homegrown guerrillas to bribe officials and create more-sophisticated distribution networks.
—Samantha Schmidt, Washington Post, 12 Apr. 2024
Some seven of Avery’s crew married in New Providence and bribed Trott to sign royal pardons.
—Sean Kingsley, Smithsonian Magazine, 2 Apr. 2024
She was found guilty of having bribed officials to persuade the authorities to look away, including paying $5.2 million to a senior central bank inspector, Do Thi Nhan, who was sentenced to life in prison.
—Reuters, CNN, 11 Apr. 2024
Many Ukrainian men are evading the draft by hiding at home or trying to bribe their way out of the battle.
—Democrat-Gazette Staff From Wire Reports, arkansasonline.com, 4 Apr. 2024
Two co-conspirators of former Milwaukee Public Schools board president Michael Bonds were convicted of conspiracy to defraud the United States in federal court Wednesday after attempting to conceal taxable income from the IRS and for bribing Bonds.
—Drake Bentley, Journal Sentinel, 21 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'bribe.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Bribe.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bribe. Accessed 27 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
bribe
1 of 2 noun
: something given or promised to a person in order to influence a decision or action dishonestly
bribe
2 of 2 verb
bribed; bribing
: to influence or try to influence by a bribe
briber
noun
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