bribe

1 of 2

noun

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

2 of 2

verb

bribed; bribing

transitive verb

: 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

intransitive verb

: to practice bribery
bribable adjective
bribee noun
briber noun

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
Noun
The indictment further accuses Adams of accepting bribes in the form of luxury international travel accommodations valued at more than $100,000 from foreign nationals in exchange for favors. Barbara McQuade, The Mercury News, 4 Oct. 2024 Teh Cheang Wan was investigated for accepting bribes. Philip J. Heijmans and Alex Chandler / Bloomberg, TIME, 3 Oct. 2024
Verb
Two businessmen were later convicted of bribing police officers and other officials. Jake Offenhartz and Karen Matthews, Los Angeles Times, 7 Oct. 2024 Scientists at House hearing refute claims they were bribed and influenced to deny Covid-19 ‘lab leak’ theory Professor Florence Debarre, a researcher at the French National Centre for Scientific Research, discovered the data in 2023 and quickly alerted other scientists. Brenda Goodman, CNN, 19 Sep. 2024 See all Example Sentences for bribe 

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'bribe.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun and Verb

Middle English, morsel given to a beggar, bribe, from Anglo-French, morsel

First Known Use

Noun

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1528, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Time Traveler
The first known use of bribe was in the 15th century

Dictionary Entries Near bribe

Cite this Entry

“Bribe.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bribe. Accessed 13 Oct. 2024.

Kids 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
bribable adjective
briber noun

Legal Definition

bribe

1 of 2 noun
: 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

2 of 2 transitive verb
bribed; bribing
: to influence (a person) by giving a bribe

More from Merriam-Webster on bribe

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