bribe
noun
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Definition of bribe
(Entry 1 of 2)
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
bribe
verbDefinition of bribe (Entry 2 of 2)
: 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
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Other Words from bribe
Verb
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adjective
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noun
Synonyms for bribe
Synonyms: Noun
backhander [British], boodle, cumshaw, fix, sop
Synonyms: Verb
buy, corrupt, have, pay off, square
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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 defendantVerb
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: Noun
Amazon began investigating reports that some of its employees have been leaking company information in exchange for bribes, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal. — Valentina Palladino, Ars Technica, "Amazon looking into claims that employees delete bad reviews for cash," 17 Sep. 2018 Prosecutors had said the bribe money was funneled to Gary Pierce by Johnson and that Pierce tried to get the water company owner to buy him land worth at least $300,000. — Fox News, "US drops bribery case against ex-Arizona utility regulator," 8 Aug. 2018 Cohen may have collected bribes after Trump’s election. — Jonathan Chait, Daily Intelligencer, "Michael Cohen Apparently Flipping Is Extremely Bad News for Trump," 2 July 2018 Two former Detroit police officers are heading to prison for pocketing cash bribes from collision shop owners in exchange for steering business their way and warning them about law enforcement activity. — Tresa Baldas, Detroit Free Press, "Two ex-Detroit cops get prison for pocketing bribes from collision shops," 25 Apr. 2018 Cunningham's activities, which included keeping a bribe menu of prices for favors, brought added scrutiny to the power individual lawmakers could exercise over government spending decisions. — Jonathan Allen, NBC News, "Hill Republicans weigh putting pork back on the table," 9 Jan. 2018 O’Hara, on the record in his own newspaper, called the Governor a lying, mentally unstable bribe-taker, likely to end up in Butler Hospital, the Providence in-patient psychiatric facility. — Richard E. Farley, Town & Country, "The Great American Racetrack War," 9 June 2017 Joerg Haider, the late leader of Austria’s Freedom Party, has been named by Austrian prosecutors in a million-dollar-residence-permits-for-bribes scandal involving Russian businessmen. — Owen Matthews, Newsweek, "The Kremlin's Campaign to Make Friends," 16 Feb. 2015 His mother spent close to $2,000 on a bribe to see one of the brothers behind a glass pane for just three minutes in 2012. — Philip Issa, Fox News, "In Syria, civil registers disclose hundreds of prison deaths," 3 Aug. 2018Recent Examples on the Web: Verb
Zach Gibson/Getty Images Is Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins being bribed to vote against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh? — Emily Stewart, Vox, "Why Susan Collins claims she’s being bribed over her Kavanaugh vote," 12 Sep. 2018 That sounds, to me, like -- well, Mueller is basically bribing Rick Gates with a get out of jail free card. — Fox News, "Gorka on New Mexico compound case 'travesty'," 15 Aug. 2018 The indictment alleges a scheme in which Code and Dawkins were brokering meetings between coaches and financial backers as part of a scheme to bribe athletes to attend and play for certain schools. — Dom Amore, courant.com, "UConn Investigated, Notified NCAA Of Assistant Basketball Coach's Meeting With Two Indicted In FBI Investigation," 8 June 2018 Turner, who would eventually pleaded guilty and receive a two-year prison sentence, had participated in a scheme to bribe voters in 2010. — Darcy Costello, The Courier-Journal, "JCPS takeover: Here's what happened in two other Kentucky districts," 8 May 2018 Prosecutors solved cases for those who would bribe them rather than defending the poor. — Ioan Grillo, The New Republic, "When Democracy Isn’t Enough," 6 June 2018 Dawkins had been part of an elaborate scheme to bribe high school players and their families and steer them toward certain colleges. — Malika Andrews, chicagotribune.com, "Wendell Carter Jr.'s mother clears air on family's inclusion in FBI investigation into college basketball," 25 June 2018 These solons will not be bribed into embracing the future! — Dan Rodricks, baltimoresun.com, "Rodricks: Wind resistance in Ocean City is ludicrous," 12 June 2018 The founder of Insys Therapeutics and several of the company’s sales representatives and executives have also been charged for allegedly conspiring to bribe doctors to use the company's fentanyl spray improperly. — Washington Post, "The Health 202: These are the five senators to watch in the Supreme Court nomination fight," 29 June 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'bribe.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for bribe
bribe
noun
English Language Learners Definition of bribe
(Entry 1 of 2)
: something valuable (such as money) that is given in order to get someone to do something
bribe
verbEnglish Language Learners Definition of bribe (Entry 2 of 2)
: to try to get someone to do something by giving or promising something valuable (such as money) : to give or offer a bribe to (someone)
See the full definition for bribe in the English Language Learners Dictionary
bribe
noun
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Kids Definition of bribe
(Entry 1 of 2)
: something given or promised to a person in order to influence dishonestly a decision or action
bribe
verbKids Definition of bribe (Entry 2 of 2)
: to influence or try to influence dishonestly by giving or promising something
bribe
nounLegal Definition of bribe
(Entry 1 of 2)
: a benefit (as money) given, promised, or offered in order to influence the judgment or conduct of a person in a position of trust (as an official or witness) — compare kickback
bribe
transitive verbLegal Definition of bribe (Entry 2 of 2)
: to influence (a person) by giving a bribe
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