suborn

verb sub·orn \ sə-ˈbȯrn \

Definition of suborn

transitive verb

1 :to induce secretly to do an unlawful thing

2 :to induce to commit perjury; also :to obtain (perjured testimony) from a witness

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subornation

play \ˌsə-ˌbȯr-ˈnā-shən\ noun

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suborner

noun

See suborn defined for English-language learners

suborn was our Word of the Day on 01/12/2010. Hear the podcast!

Examples of suborn in a Sentence

He's accused of suborning a witness.

Recent Examples of suborn from the Web

Now the party elite will literally be suborned at an event conjoining his public duties and the fattening of his own wallet.

— jonathan chait, Daily Intelligencer, "Donald Trump Is a Crook," 21 June 2017
This accusation was made in respect to a live VOA interview with expatriate Chinese billionaire businessman Guo Wengui who had some explosive revelations to make on how Chinese businesses are suborned into supporting the...

— WSJ, "VOA Should Come Clean on Mandarin Service," 4 June 2017
The desire to suborn Americans has not abated with the end of the Cold War.

— vanityfair.com, "Jared Kushner and Donald Trump: Like Father, Like Son-in-Law," 26 May 2017
The desire to suborn Americans has not abated with the end of the Cold War.

— chris smith, The Hive, "Jared Kushner and Donald Trump: Like Father, Like Son-in-Law," 26 May 2017
For instance, the judiciary committee charged Nixon with suborning perjury and withholding evidence.

— jon schwarz, The Intercept, "For Donald Trump, A Short History of Presidential Obstruction of Justice," 17 May 2017
Some members of Congress, like House Intelligence Committee chairman Devin Nunes, have chosen to essentially suborn themselves, by conspiring with the White House to generate a counter-scandal where none exists.

— brian beutler, New Republic, "Republicans Are Abetting Trump’s Abuse of Power," 15 May 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'suborn.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

The Latin word that gave us suborn in the early part of the 16th century is subornare, which translates literally as "to secretly furnish or equip." The sub- that brings the "secretly" meaning to subornare more commonly means "under" or "below," but it has its stealthy denotation in the etymologies of several other English words, including surreptitious (from sub- and rapere, meaning "to seize") and the verb suspect (from sub- or sus- and specere, meaning "to look at"). The ornare of subornare is also at work in the words ornate, adorn, and ornament.