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
There had been tension between Bo Nagar’s force and the local PDF units since last year over his BNRA fighters allegedly extorting money at road checkpoints.
—
ABC News, 19 Feb. 2026
Hayley — who turns out to be a hooker who does secretarial admin on the side and not an executive assistant who occasionally threesomes — is extorting him for $750,000.
—Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 16 Feb. 2026
The traveler confessed to extorting others to commit self-harm, the memo said.
—Curt Devine, CNN Money, 10 Feb. 2026
Bandit gangs control entire districts, extorting protection money from communities in cash or kind, killing those that resist.
—Obi Anyadike, semafor.com, 26 Jan. 2026
Instead of extorting money to decrypt data in a company’s own system, an attacker can just threaten to release sensitive data if the ransom isn’t paid.
—Megan Poinski, Forbes.com, 22 Jan. 2026
After a relative suffered an accident, the cops who responded ended up extorting money from him, Ramírez said.
—Kate Linthicum, Los Angeles Times, 18 Jan. 2026
The Barrio 18 and MS-13 gangs are rivals, battling for territorial control in Guatemala by extorting shopkeepers, transport workers and civilians.
—CBS News, 22 Dec. 2025
The couple allegedly asked customers’ family members to send original passports to them and then frequently refused to return the passports unless customers paid hundreds of dollars more, effectively extorting them, Ellison’s office said.
—Kristi Miller, Twin Cities, 22 Dec. 2025
ABC News, 19 Feb. 2026
Hayley — who turns out to be a hooker who does secretarial admin on the side and not an executive assistant who occasionally threesomes — is extorting him for $750,000.
—Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 16 Feb. 2026
The traveler confessed to extorting others to commit self-harm, the memo said.
—Curt Devine, CNN Money, 10 Feb. 2026
Bandit gangs control entire districts, extorting protection money from communities in cash or kind, killing those that resist.
—Obi Anyadike, semafor.com, 26 Jan. 2026
Instead of extorting money to decrypt data in a company’s own system, an attacker can just threaten to release sensitive data if the ransom isn’t paid.
—Megan Poinski, Forbes.com, 22 Jan. 2026
After a relative suffered an accident, the cops who responded ended up extorting money from him, Ramírez said.
—Kate Linthicum, Los Angeles Times, 18 Jan. 2026
The Barrio 18 and MS-13 gangs are rivals, battling for territorial control in Guatemala by extorting shopkeepers, transport workers and civilians.
—CBS News, 22 Dec. 2025
The couple allegedly asked customers’ family members to send original passports to them and then frequently refused to return the passports unless customers paid hundreds of dollars more, effectively extorting them, Ellison’s office said.
—Kristi Miller, Twin Cities, 22 Dec. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for extorting
Verb
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Abruscato got his own table nearby, while Coogan and Hays sat across from me, squeezing into a small wooden booth.—
Diego Lasarte,
New Yorker,
25 Feb. 2026
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Hoshoryu, at six foot two and around 330 pounds, dispatched his first adversary handily, squeezing him like an accordion and dancing him out of the ring.—
Joshua Hunt,
Harpers Magazine,
24 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Meyers is also accused of coercing the 15-year-old into recording the high school’s wrestling team, the complaint alleges.—
Brittany Kubicko,
NBC news,
20 Feb. 2026
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Guevara and two colleagues, Mason and then-Detective Ernest Halvorson, orchestrated a frame-up by coercing one witness to identify Rios by beating him with a phone book and flashlight, and another by threatening to charge him with obstruction, according to the plaintiffs’ allegations.—
Jason Meisner,
Chicago Tribune,
20 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Their philosophy is both intentional and exacting, leaving no room for compromise.—
Jason Phillips,
USA Today,
20 Feb. 2026
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Not that Sun Ra’s music wasn’t exacting.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
13 Feb. 2026
Verb
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But the response should not be hand-wringing or name-calling.—
Reardon Sullivan,
Baltimore Sun,
19 Feb. 2026
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Democrats wringing their hands and making appeals to process while the President sends people to Salvadoran prisons without trial are unfit to meet the moment, this theory says.—
Nathan Heller,
New Yorker,
1 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Surveillance footage showed three people dressed in dark clothing forcing him into a white SUV and speeding off, investigators said.—
Alex Wigglesworth,
Los Angeles Times,
25 Feb. 2026
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The city subway system was also running with delays, including massive backups at multiple stations in Brooklyn after C trains were taken off the tracks, forcing all A trains to run local.—
Joseph Wilkinson,
New York Daily News,
24 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Now the president is again pitching the idea that wresting control of Greenland away from Denmark could solve the problem.—
Josh Funk,
Fortune,
11 Jan. 2026
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Hopes for both lower interest rates and a solid economy have helped other areas of the stock market climb recently, wresting leadership away from the Big Tech and AI stocks that dominated the market for years.—
Stan Choe,
Los Angeles Times,
9 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Extorting.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/extorting. Accessed 27 Feb. 2026.
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