bribe

CEFRC1

/bɹaɪb/

noun · verb

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    Money or a gift offered to influence someone unfairly.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    That which seduces; seduction; allurement.

Examples

  • Mr Koop would be the last person to take a bribe.

  • The mayor denied having taken a bribe.

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
3
Synonyms
5

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. The act of offering or paying such a payment: an act of bribery.

  2. Something (usually money) given in exchange for influence or as an inducement to breaking the law.

verb

Extra meaning

  1. To give a bribe to; specifically, to ask a person to do something against their original will, in exchange for some type of reward or relief from potential trouble.

More examples

In context

  • c. 1613-1625, Henry Hobart, Yardly v. Ellill Undue reward for anything against justice is a bribe.

  • She was accused of trying to bribe the jury into making false statements.

  • October 23, 1848, Frederick William Robertson, an address delivered at the Opening of The Working Men's Institute Neither is he worthy who bribes a man to vote against his conscience.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The corrupt official tried to blank the inspector to ignore the safety violations.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

From Middle English bribe, from Old French briber (“go begging”), from the noun bribe (“a gift”).