as in squeezing
to get (as money) by the use of force or threats
a school bully who was used to extorting lunch money from weaker kids
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Recent Examples of extorting
Nearly a billion records were stolen across dozens of organizations, and now cybercriminals are extorting victims by threatening to publish the data unless hefty ransoms are paid.
—
Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 16 Oct. 2025
And in response, the Maduro regime is extorting them by holding their nationals in prison and forcing them to engage with the Maduro regime for their release.
—Manuel Rueda, NPR, 4 Oct. 2025
Taxi and bus drivers, meanwhile, say gangs are extorting them for money and that the government is not doing enough to intervene.
—Connor Greene, Time, 2 Oct. 2025
The student at Fieldstone Middle School in Stony Point in the New York City metropolitan area was accused of extorting classmates under the age of 16 using explicit material to get gift cards or more explicit content.
—Nancy Cutler, USA Today, 20 Sep. 2025
Google also stated that ShinyHunters commonly uses an attack tactic of extorting victims using emails or telephone calls demanding bitcoin ransom payments within 72 hours of compromise.
—Davey Winder, Forbes.com, 9 Aug. 2025
He was charged in May 2024 with extorting contractors on school construction projects and then accepting tens of thousands of dollars in bribes from those companies.
—Andrew Brown, Hartford Courant, 4 Aug. 2025
Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 16 Oct. 2025
And in response, the Maduro regime is extorting them by holding their nationals in prison and forcing them to engage with the Maduro regime for their release.
—Manuel Rueda, NPR, 4 Oct. 2025
Taxi and bus drivers, meanwhile, say gangs are extorting them for money and that the government is not doing enough to intervene.
—Connor Greene, Time, 2 Oct. 2025
The student at Fieldstone Middle School in Stony Point in the New York City metropolitan area was accused of extorting classmates under the age of 16 using explicit material to get gift cards or more explicit content.
—Nancy Cutler, USA Today, 20 Sep. 2025
Google also stated that ShinyHunters commonly uses an attack tactic of extorting victims using emails or telephone calls demanding bitcoin ransom payments within 72 hours of compromise.
—Davey Winder, Forbes.com, 9 Aug. 2025
He was charged in May 2024 with extorting contractors on school construction projects and then accepting tens of thousands of dollars in bribes from those companies.
—Andrew Brown, Hartford Courant, 4 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for extorting
Verb
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Down 38-14 early in the fourth quarter, Texas staged one of the college football season’s more improbable rallies Saturday, scoring 31 unanswered points and squeezing past Mississippi State 45-38 in overtime.—
Rowan Fisher-Shotton,
MSNBC Newsweek,
26 Oct. 2025
-
Haiti, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic’s steep terrain will force air upward, wringing out more moisture from the storm, just like squeezing a wet sponge, turning tropical humidity into torrents racing downhill.—
Chris Dolce,
CNN Money,
25 Oct. 2025
Verb
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In one recent case, a 22-year-old man used Discord to prey on victims as young as 12 years old, coercing them into creating explicit content.—
Alex Vance,
Parents,
21 Oct. 2025
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Employers would be prohibited from pressuring or coercing anyone into signing such a waiver.—
Aliss Higham,
MSNBC Newsweek,
21 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Thousands of miles of piping and wiring must meet exacting safety standards.—
Brad Plumer,
New York Times,
22 Oct. 2025
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All these excellent, exacting details coexist well with each other to produce one of Lanthimos’s best films yet, a movie of startling ingenuity that also doubles as a humorous but pointed warning to us all.—
Randy Myers,
Mercury News,
22 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Haiti, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic’s steep terrain will force air upward, wringing out more moisture from the storm, just like squeezing a wet sponge, turning tropical humidity into torrents racing downhill.—
Chris Dolce,
CNN Money,
25 Oct. 2025
-
For the past several years, writers and pundits have been wringing their hands over how few men are supposedly writing and reading fiction today.—
Robert Rubsam,
Vulture,
18 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Rather than forcing lopsided trade deals on allies and friends, Washington would do better to organize a common message to Chinese leaders that a business model that fuels deflation at home and anger abroad is untenable.—
Christopher Smart,
Time,
29 Oct. 2025
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In the fourth quarter, Butler continued to dice up Los Angeles, his off-the-dribble bounce pass assist to Draymond Green pushing the lead to 20 with six minutes left and forcing a timeout.—
Joseph Dycus,
Mercury News,
29 Oct. 2025
Verb
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The state and federal governments argued that NEPA does not apply to the state, and the appellate court agreed with them, suspending the lower court’s decision pending arguments on the merits of the appeal and wresting the case from District Judge Kathleen Williams until the appeal is resolved.—
Miami Herald,
Miami Herald,
14 Oct. 2025
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Lee assumed office in June as the head of the country’s liberal Democratic Party, wresting control from the conservative People Power Party.—
David Zimmermann,
The Washington Examiner,
11 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Extorting.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/extorting. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.
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