SINCE 1828
blood money
nounDefinition of blood money
1
: money obtained at the cost of another's life
2
: money paid (as by a killer or the killer's clan) to the family of a person who has been killed
Examples of blood money in a Sentence
the blood money earned by people who profited from the tragedy
They accepted blood money in exchange for the murderer's execution.
Recent Examples on the Web
For the politicians and others who feed at this sordid trough, accepting the NRA’s blood money and doing its bidding needs to be seen on the same moral level as an official who associates with, say, white supremacists. — Will Bunch, Philly.com, "You can stop the anti-American hate group behind the Florida massacre | Will Bunch," 15 Feb. 2018 The district attorney is busy running her re-election campaign and collecting police blood money to do so. — Monique Judge, The Root, "#StephonClark: 2 Months Later, We Are No Closer to Justice," 15 May 2018 There is precedent for this portrayal in the Bible, as some will recall that Judas immediately regrets his betrayal, returns the blood money and commits suicide. — Jonathan Merritt, Washington Post, "‘Glorious glitter bomb’: Critics loved ‘Jesus Christ Superstar,’ but much of religious America was unimpressed," 2 Apr. 2018 Done with adults who claim children are invaluable — though clearly not as invaluable as pockets filled with NRA blood money. — Helen Ubiñas, Philly.com, "The next generation is done waiting for this generation to do something about guns," 16 Feb. 2018 These sanctions will help stop the flow of blood money ... — Nima Elbagir And Lauren Said-moorhouse, CNN, "US sanctions Libyan smugglers after CNN investigation," 11 June 2018 When innocent tribesmen were accidentally killed in operations designed to target the Yemeni military, AQAP published apologies and negotiated to pay blood money. — Elisabeth Kendall, Washington Post, "What's next for jihadists in Yemen?," 23 Feb. 2018 Now go after the NRA and the politicians that take the blood money. — Pat Lenhoff, chicagotribune.com, "Column: As students walkout to protest gun violence, a needed national conversation continues," 15 Mar. 2018 Since 1990, Rob Portman has taken $3 million in blood money from the NRA. — Paul Daugherty, Cincinnati.com, "Doc: Xavier Musketeers, UC Bearcats take their lumps. Now what?," 19 Feb. 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'blood money.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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