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
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
David Segal, New York Times, 30 Apr. 2025
Adams was indicted in 2024 on charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States, wire fraud, soliciting campaign contributions from foreign nationals, and soliciting and accepting a bribe.
—Tom Rogers, MSNBC Newsweek, 29 Apr. 2025
Michael Kan, PC Magazine, 28 Mar. 2025
His administration has even rolled back anti-corruption measures that prevent foreign governments from bribing U.S. government officials.
—Faisal Kutty, Newsweek, 11 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for bribe
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Noun
Kehlmann’s paternal grandparents survived because a Nazi official swung by every month and left with a piece of furniture, a bribe just large enough to get their file regularly placed at the bottom of a pile.
—David Segal, New York Times, 30 Apr. 2025
Adams was indicted in 2024 on charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States, wire fraud, soliciting campaign contributions from foreign nationals, and soliciting and accepting a bribe.
—Tom Rogers, MSNBC Newsweek, 29 Apr. 2025
Verb
But the alleged loopholes in the carrier’s security may refer to how hackers previously tried to bribe T-Mobile employees into engineering SIM swaps.
—Michael Kan, PC Magazine, 28 Mar. 2025
His administration has even rolled back anti-corruption measures that prevent foreign governments from bribing U.S. government officials.
—Faisal Kutty, Newsweek, 11 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for bribe
Cite this Entry
“Bribe.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bribe. Accessed 9 May. 2025.
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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