bribe
noun
\
Definition of bribe
(Entry 1 of 2)
bribe
verbDefinition of bribe (Entry 2 of 2)
Keep scrolling for more
Other Words from bribe
Verb
\
adjective
\
noun
Synonyms for bribe
Synonyms: Noun
backhander [British], boodle, cumshaw, fix, sop
Synonyms: Verb
buy, corrupt, have, pay off, square
Visit the Thesaurus for More
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
The University of California-Los Angeles, where a soccer coach is accused of taking bribes to help two wealthy students get into school, became the first campus to receive over 100,000 freshman applications in 2016. — Tyler Kingkade, Town & Country, "College Admissions Has a Fact-Checking Problem. Here's Why.," 24 Mar. 2019 The $350,000 matches about what Jimenez received in bribes, assistant U.S. attorney M. Kristin Mace said. — Ronald Blum, The Seattle Times, "Former Guatemalan soccer head to forfeit $350,000," 5 Feb. 2019 Flaxman, founder and CEO of Crown Realty Development, is said to have paid bribes under the guise of donations—$250,000 for his son to be recruited for soccer at the University of San Diego and $75,000 to help his daughter boost her ACT score. — Elizabeth Gulino, House Beautiful, "Real Estate Developers Indicted Over College Admissions Scam," 13 Mar. 2019 Between 2011 through 2018, Singer allegedly collected $25 million in bribes to help students get into the schools. — Emily Bloch, Teen Vogue, "Lori Loughlin, Felicity Huffman Among Dozens of Wealthy Parents Indicted in College Admissions Cheating Scheme," 12 Mar. 2019 According to the indictment, filed in the Southern District of New York, Ms. Karimova and Mr. Akhmedov agreed that Mr. Akhmedov would solicit and facilitate bribe payments from telecommunications companies seeking to enter the Uzbek market. — Kristin Broughton, WSJ, "Former Uzbek Official, Telecom Executive Charged in Bribery Scheme," 7 Mar. 2019 Corruption is rampant in Venezuela, and U.S. prosecutors have uncovered billions in fraud and bribes at PDVSA. — Joshua Goodman, Fox News, "Maduro's stepsons face scrutiny in $1.2 billion graft case," 24 Aug. 2018 After the Sinaloa cartel boss was recaptured and thrown in another Mexican lockup, the orginization paid a $2 million bribe to a prison official in exchange for getting him moved back to Altiplano, the witness said. — Tom Hays, The Seattle Times, "Witness: El Chapo’s wife was in on plans for prison escape," 23 Jan. 2019 The representatives would offer bribes in exchange for the managers making changes to the boards’ official designs. — Dan Goodin, Ars Technica, "If Supermicro boards were so bug-ridden, why would hackers ever need implants?," 11 Oct. 2018Recent Examples on the Web: Verb
The massive scheme allegedly involved lying about sports involvement, paying for stand-ins for SAT and ACT exams, and even bribing test administrators to change scores. — Jenn M. Jackson, Teen Vogue, "Access to Education for Black Children Proves Difficult for Their Parents, Creating a Disadvantage," 13 Mar. 2019 The British investigations into Acacia focus around accusations that employees of the company, which was called African Barrick until 2014, bribed Tanzanian government officials and consultants, according to the people familiar with the matter. — Nicholas Bariyo, WSJ, "Britain’s Fraud Office Investigates Acacia Mining," 14 Dec. 2018 Most important, Chávez used it to bribe and corrupt members of other political parties. — Mary Anastasia O’grady, WSJ, "Power and Money in Venezuela," 10 Feb. 2019 Knight's trial was initially scheduled for the beginning of this year, January 8, but was delayed after members of Knight's defense team -- Thaddeus Culpepper and Matthew Fletcher-- were indicted for attempting to bribe witnesses. — Nerisha Penrose, Billboard, "Suge Knight Finally Gets a Date for Murder Trial," 25 Apr. 2018 Armed with a stack of team owner Mike Ilitch’s American greenbacks, Matveev left for Russia intending to attempt to bribe military generals. — Keith Gave, Detroit Free Press, "Russian Five: How Konstantinov faked cancer to join Detroit Red Wings," 26 Mar. 2018 It’s harder to bribe 211 national associations worldwide than 23 individuals. — Jonathan Tannenwald, Philly.com, "Warnings about North American 2026 World Cup bid heard loud and clear at Telemundo," 6 Mar. 2018 According to the federal indictment, those decisions were made as a result of Johnson bribing Pierce. — Ryan Randazzo, azcentral, "Water taps dry, sewers overflow as Johnson Utilities owner faces bribery trial," 28 June 2018 And Sinopec is under investigation by the U.S. for allegedly bribing Nigerian officials, people familiar said. — Erin Roman, Bloomberg.com, "Everything You Need to Know This Morning From Daybreak (Podcast)," 30 Aug. 2017These 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.
Keep scrolling for more
Keep scrolling for more
More Definitions for bribe
bribe
noun
English Language Learners Definition of bribe
(Entry 1 of 2)
bribe
verbEnglish Language Learners Definition of bribe (Entry 2 of 2)
See the full definition for bribe in the English Language Learners Dictionary
bribe
noun
\
Kids Definition of bribe
(Entry 1 of 2)
bribe
verbKids Definition of bribe (Entry 2 of 2)
bribe
nounLegal Definition of bribe
(Entry 1 of 2)
bribe
transitive verbLegal Definition of bribe (Entry 2 of 2)
Keep scrolling for more
Comments on bribe
What made you want to look up bribe? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).
Test Your Vocabulary
Words from Greek and Latin Quiz
-
- Which of the following months comes from a Latin word for “ten”?
Test your knowledge - and maybe learn something along the way.
TAKE THE QUIZ
Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.
TAKE THE QUIZ
-
Words from Greek and Latin Quiz
Finally! A use for those SAT prep classes.
Take the quiz -
Name That Thing: Animal Edition
How many animals can you identify?
Take the quiz -
True or False?
Test your knowledge - and maybe learn something along the way.
Take the quiz -
SCRABBLE® Sprint
SCRABBLE® fans, sharpen your skills!
Play the game
Share bribe
Resources for bribe