Adjacent Words

blackmail definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: extortion of money by threats to divulge discrediting information v
1: exert pressure on someone through threats [syn: blackmail, blackjack, pressure]
2: obtain through threats

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: black + ¹mail Date: 1552 1. a tribute anciently exacted on the Scottish border by plundering chiefs in exchange for immunity from pillage 2. a. extortion or coercion by threats especially of public exposure or criminal prosecution b. the payment that is extorted • blackmail transitive verb • blackmailer noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. 1 a an extortion of payment in return for not disclosing discreditable information, a secret, etc. b any payment extorted in this way. 2 the use of threats or moral pressure. --v.tr. 1 extort or try to extort money etc. from (a person) by blackmail. 2 threaten, coerce. Derivatives: blackmailer n. Etymology: BLACK + obs. mail rent, OE mal f. ON mál agreement

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Blackmail Black"mail`, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Blackmailed; p. pr. & vb. n. Blackmailing.] To extort money from by exciting fears of injury other than bodily harm, as injury to reputation, distress of mind, etc.; as, to blackmail a merchant by threatening to expose an alleged fraud. [U. S.]

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Blackmail Black"mail`, n. [Black + mail a piece of money.] 1. A certain rate of money, corn, cattle, or other thing, anciently paid, in the north of England and south of Scotland, to certain men who were allied to robbers, or moss troopers, to be by them protected from pillage. --Sir W. Scott. 2. Payment of money exacted by means of intimidation; also, extortion of money from a person by threats of public accusation, exposure, or censure. 3. (Eng. Law) Black rent, or rent paid in corn, flesh, or the lowest coin, a opposed to ``white rent'', which paid in silver. To levy blackmail, to extort money by threats, as of injury to one's reputation.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(blackmails, blackmailing, blackmailed) 1. Blackmail is the action of threatening to reveal a secret about someone, unless they do something you tell them to do, such as giving you money. It looks like the pictures were being used for blackmail... 2. If you describe an action as emotional or moral blackmail, you disapprove of it because someone is using a person's emotions or moral values to persuade them to do something against their will. The tactics employed can range from overt bullying to subtle emotional blackmail. N-UNCOUNT [disapproval] 3. If one person blackmails another person, they use blackmail against them. The government insisted that it would not be blackmailed by violence... I thought he was trying to blackmail me into saying whatever he wanted. VERB: V n, V n into -ing/n, also V n with n • blackmailer (blackmailers) The nasty thing about a blackmailer is that his starting point is usually the truth. N-COUNT

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Tribute (paid for immunity from robbery), brigand-tax. 2. Hush-money, bribe to keep silence. 3. Extortion by threats.

Moby Thesaurus

account, allowance, ask, ask for, assessment, badger, badger game, bill, blood money, bloodsucking, boodle, booty, call, call for, challenge, claim, clamor for, coerce, compel, contribution, cry for, demand, demand for, draft, drain, duty, emolument, exact, exaction, extort, extortion, extortionate demand, fee, footing, force, force from, graft, haul, heavy demand, hot goods, hush money, impose, imposition, impost, indent, initiation fee, insistent demand, issue an ultimatum, levy, levy blackmail, loot, make, make a demand, mileage, nonnegotiable demand, notice, order, order up, perks, perquisite, pickings, place an order, plunder, pork barrel, prize, protection racket, pry loose from, public till, public trough, put in requisition, ransom, reckoning, rend, rend from, require, requirement, requisition, retainer, retaining fee, rip, rip from, rush, rush order, scot, screw, shake down, shakedown, snatch from, spoil, spoils, spoils of office, squeeze, stealings, stipend, stolen goods, swag, take, tax, taxing, tear from, till, tribute, ultimatum, vampirism, warn, warning, wrench, wrench from, wrest, wring, wring from