extorts

verb

present tense third-person singular of extort
as in exacts
to get (as money) by the use of force or threats a school bully who was used to extorting lunch money from weaker kids

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for extorts
  1. exacts
  2. squeezes
  3. coerces
  4. wrings
  5. wrests
Verb
  • Ali then exacts his revenge, pumping several rounds into Alamo's chest as the antagonistic figure falls for good.
    — Joey Nolfi, Entertainment Weekly, 1 June 2026
  • Shrinking lake ice exacts its price Depending on how much greenhouse gases warm the planet in the coming years, the average lake could lose up to 10 to 28 days of ice cover by the end of the century, says Sapna Sharma, a global change biologist at York University in Canada.
    — Berly McCoy, NPR, 2 Mar. 2026
Definition of exacts
Verb
  • Whereas the Scranton method mainly involves molding ultrahot steel in giant forging presses, Repkon added a step in which a fast-spinning machine squeezes and rolls out the metal like clay on a potter’s wheel.
    — Jesse Coburn, ProPublica, 12 Aug. 2026
  • Among them, the missiles are difficult to manufacture, supply chain squeezes can interrupt production, and missile production decisions are also made years in advance.
    — James Powel, USA Today, 9 Aug. 2026
Definition of squeezes
Verb
  • However, the rotation of this filament clearly dominates how the galaxies within it spin, perhaps by funneling hydrogen gas along the dark-matter filament and onto the galaxies in a way that coerces their spin while providing further fuel for star formation.
    — Keith Cooper, Space.com, 4 Dec. 2025
  • Haunted by the suspicious death of his ailing mother, Ali, a university professor, coerces his enigmatic gardener to execute a cold-blooded act of vengeance.
    — Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 14 Nov. 2025
Definition of coerces
Verb
  • Unfortunately, the underwhelming revelations don’t elicit the tears Kore-eda regularly wrings.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 24 July 2026
  • The perennial funnyman suffered an immense tragedy earlier this year with the loss of his daughter, Katherine, yet still wrings laughs out of flamboyant director Oliver Putnam on Only Murders in the Building five seasons in.
    — Rebecca Ford, Vanity Fair, 25 June 2026
Definition of wrings
Verb
  • If New England somehow wrests the divison away from Buffalo, Vrabel gets serious consideration.
    — Darren Cooper, Forbes.com, 28 July 2026
  • Like everything else that works here, Brie’s performance wrests the last scraps of freshness from a mode of filmmaking this movie knows is played out, but doesn’t have the particular strength to reinvent.
    — David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 2 June 2026
Definition of wrests
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

extortionists
extorts
extra
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Cite this Entry

“Extorts.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/extorts. Accessed 17 Aug. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on extorts

Nglish: Translation of extorts for Spanish Speakers

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