suborn

verb sub·orn \ sə-ˈbȯrn \

|Updated on: 30 May 2018

Examples: suborn in a Sentence

Editor's Note: Did You Know?

Definition of suborn

suborned; suborning; suborns

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

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Examples of suborn in a Sentence

He's accused of suborning a witness.

Recent Examples of suborn from the Web

Greitens’ attorneys pushed back on the offer on the grounds that Gardner was allegedly involved in suborning Tisaby’s perjury.

— bryan lowry, kansascity, "St. Louis police will investigate ex-FBI agent involved in Greitens case | The Kansas City Star," 15 May 2018
One Chinese state bank should not be allowed to do global business while another suborns North Korea.

— daniel blumenthal and, WSJ, "Forcing China’s Hand on North Korea," 17 July 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
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

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.