boodle

noun

boo·​dle ˈbü-dᵊl How to pronounce boodle (audio)
1
: a collection or lot of persons : caboodle
2
a
: bribe money
b
: a large amount especially of money

Examples of boodle in a Sentence

a boodle of teenagers boarded the bus together we saved a boodle by buying a house that's off the beaten path
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
In Manila, Rosenthal feasts on pork sisig, shares a roadside meal with Jeepney drivers and encounters his first boodle fight on a tour of Filipino cuisine. Laura Manske, Forbes.com, 18 June 2025 There are more critical elections and bigger prizes on which that boodle is better spent. Jason Linkins, The New Republic, 4 Nov. 2023 Big Labor’s coffers, where the boodle has been put to use for preferred Democrat candidates and liberal referenda. Jack Fowler, National Review, 12 July 2022 To the extent that the effects are felt on those individuals’ bank accounts, these actors can typically find ways to navigate around the harshest of punishments and keep the boodle flowing. Blaise Malley, The New Republic, 17 Nov. 2021 His boodle took him to a pole barn on the edges of town, where his brother Ray was having a wedding reception. John Carlisle, Freep.com, 21 Aug. 2020 Laura Marston, a 38-year-old Type 1 diabetic, does not want to see the ADA get a dime of bailout boodle. Audrey Farley, The New Republic, 14 May 2020 But instead of plopping his funds in Manhattan high-rises or Miami beach-fronts, Kolomoisky’s network tried a different tack, opting to stuff his boodle in metallurgy plants across the Rust Belt, and buildings in downtown Cleveland. Casey Michel, The New Republic, 16 Dec. 2019 Some of the boodle is going to people who are barely farmers at all. BostonGlobe.com, 7 Dec. 2019

Word History

Etymology

Dutch boedel estate, lot, from Middle Dutch; akin to Old Norse būth booth

First Known Use

1625, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of boodle was in 1625

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Boodle.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/boodle. Accessed 2 Jul. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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