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
• bribeable adjective
• bribability noun
• bribeability noun
• bribee noun
• briber 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

They also referred to bribes taken by a former Reform leader.

From BBC

It was dirty, and patients had to bribe security officers and nurses to see a doctor, said the protester, who spoke on condition of anonymity as he feared reprisals.

From BBC

A wine buyer for a major California grocery chain allegedly accepted lavish vacations, luxury watches, prepaid gift cards and other bribes in exchange for carrying certain wines, according to charges filed by prosecutors.

From Los Angeles Times

He further claimed that this was done after bribing local police, and without informing Togolese authorities of their entry.

From BBC

His first vice president, Spiro Agnew, was found to have been taking cash bribes for government contracts and was forced to resign from office.

From Salon

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.