bribe

[brahyb]

noun

1. money or any other valuable consideration given or promised with a view to corrupting the behavior of a person, especially in that person's performance as an athlete, public official, etc..

   The motorist offered the arresting officer a bribe to let him go.

2. anything given or serving to persuade or induce.

   The children were given candy as a bribe to be good.

verb (used with object)

bribed, bribing 

1. to give or promise a bribe to.

   They bribed the reporter to forget about what he had seen.

2. to influence or corrupt by a bribe.

   The judge was too honest to be bribed.

verb (used without object)

bribed, bribing 

1. to give a bribe; practice bribery.

bribe

/ braɪb /

verb

1. to promise, offer, or give something, usually money, to (a person) to procure services or gain influence, esp illegally

noun

1. a reward, such as money or favour, given or offered for this purpose

2. any persuasion or lure

3. a length of flawed or damaged cloth removed from the main piece

Other Word Forms

• bribable adjective
• briber noun
• bribeable adjective
• bribability noun
• bribeability noun
• bribee noun
• outbribe verb (used with object)
• unbribable adjective
• unbribably adverb
• unbribed adjective
• unbribing adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of bribe¹

1350–1400; Middle English < Middle French: remnant of food given as alms, said to be < an expressive base *bri ( m ) b- denoting something small

Word History and Origins

Origin of bribe¹

C14: from Old French briber to beg, of obscure origin

Example Sentences

The case against him was linked to claims he ordered a lawyer to bribe jailed paramilitaries to discredit claims he had ties to their organisations.

Read more on BBC

The party's former leader in Wales, Nathan Gill, has admitted taking bribes to make statements in favour of Russia, of all countries, while he was a member of the European Parliament.

Read more on BBC

The six other mayors, accused of bid-rigging and accepting bribes, risk up to 18 years behind bars.

Read more on Barron's

Authorities said there is evidence that suggests the Bansals were involved in bribing a judge connected to that case, and in another case, are accused by authorities of working with officials to illegally acquire land.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

On Thursday the Supreme Court ruled that the slush fund "appeared to have originated from bribes illegally received" by the former president and thus could not be considered part of the couple's assets.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• blackmail 
• compensation 
• gift 
• graft 
• gratuity 
• hush money 
• incentive 
• inducement 
• kickback 
• perk 
• reward 

When To Use

What does bribe mean?

A bribe is money or something else of value offered or given to someone to get them to do something you want them to do, especially something they’re not supposed to do.Bribe can also be used as a verb meaning to offer or give someone a bribe. The act of doing so is called bribery.In most cases, this refers to the often illegal act of offering money to people in official positions, like politicians, government officials, or sports referees, in order to get them to change an outcome to be more favorable to the person offering the bribe. For example, a businessperson might bribe a senator to vote a certain way, which is of course illegal.Bribe can also refer to offering an incentive (or the incentive itself) to someone to do something, especially a child, as in I tried bribing the kids with TV time as a reward for cleaning up their room, but apparently even bribes don’t work because they didn’t do it. Example: The video clearly shows the lobbyist presenting the senator a briefcase full of money as a bribe for a favorable vote—it’s an open-and-shut case of bribery.