bribe

American  

[brahyb] / braɪb /

noun

• bribes
  plural

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.

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verb (used with object)

• bribes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• bribed,
  past participle,  past
• bribing
  present participle

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)

• bribes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• bribed,
  past participle,  past
• bribing
  present participle

1. to give a bribe; practice bribery.

bribe British  

/ braɪb /

verb

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

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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

Usage

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.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

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

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• bribes
  plural

Participles

• bribing
  present
• bribed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• bribe
  simple
• bribes
  simple
• have bribed
  perfect
• has bribed
  perfect
• am bribing
  progressive
• are bribing
  progressive
• is bribing
  progressive
• have been bribing
  perfect progressive
• has been bribing
  perfect progressive

Past

• bribed
  simple
• had bribed
  perfect
• was bribing
  progressive
• were bribing
  progressive
• had been bribing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will bribe
  simple
• will have bribed
  perfect
• will be bribing
  progressive
• will have been bribing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of bribe

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

Explanation

You pay a bribe to get someone to do something they wouldn't do otherwise. It's usually dishonest and often criminal. Bribes can be utterly corrupt and illegal — like when you offer a bribe to a politician so she'll make a decision in your favor. On the other hand, a bribe can be somewhat benign — like when your mom bribes you with an ice cream if you play with your little brother. When you bribe someone, you can say you're "greasing their palm."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

bribe bribes bribed bribing

He told us he was contacted twice by text and offered a massive bribe - "enough money to retire on".

From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026

The guard demanded “a donation” as he inspected their belongings, which Saavedra viewed as a request for a bribe.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026

The $100,000 bribe prosecutors say he agreed to is the equivalent of $384 for someone making $100,000 a year.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 29, 2026

In the lower court ruling, one of the handbags was not recognised as a bribe because it had been gifted to Kim before her husband's presidential inauguration.

From Barron's ● Apr. 28, 2026

“I still remember when I could bribe you for half a stick of gum.”

From "Kira-Kira" by Cynthia Kadohata

During his tenure, a former vice governor of eastern Jiangxi province was executed for taking bribes, the highest-ranking official to be put to death for such charges in five decades.

From Barron's ● Aug. 12, 2026

The party has long grappled with venal insiders—including antigraft inspectors—who leak secrets about corruption probes in return for bribes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026

At first glance, neither player seemed to be vulnerable to bribes from gamblers.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2026

But the prosecution failed to provide evidence she awarded contracts to any of the oil tycoons named because of bribes.

From BBC ● Jun. 17, 2026

White took over as the warden of the federal penitentiary in Atlanta, where he led an undercover operation to catch officials who, in exchange for bribes, were granting prisoners nicer living conditions and early releases.

From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann

Is it true, they ask, that Jefferson bribed Trumbull to make it look that way, to show that he, Jefferson, outranked Adams?

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 4, 2026

More recently, as China assailed Japan, text messages and photos that Taiwan officials said came from the Chinese military spread the claim that Takaichi had been bribed by Taiwanese diplomats.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 15, 2026

Standing amid an array of workstations, a volunteer explained how his team identified sympathetic individuals to buy medicine and food from Damascus, and middlemen who bribed supplies past government checkpoints into Sweida.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 21, 2025

Gill had also been bribed to organise interviews with other MEPs for the TV stations linked to Medvedchuk.

From BBC ● Nov. 27, 2025

Mama has bribed all lands of ointments in and none seem to work.

From "Purple Hibiscus" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Some members of Deutsche Telekom’s supervisory board became concerned the donation could expose the parent company to allegations of illegally bribing a foreign government, said people familiar with the matter.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 10, 2026

Also on trial, oil industry executive Olatimbo Ayinde, 54, denies one count of bribery and another count of bribing a foreign public official.

From BBC ● Apr. 13, 2026

But Mabel Fairbanks, Babilonia’s skating coach, wouldn’t take no for an answer, bribing the 8-year-old with stickers and a Barbie doll if she would just reach out and grab the hand of 10-year-old Randy Gardner.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 1, 2026

The BBC has also learned that, in another case, an Italian businessman pleaded guilty to bribing the oligarch.

From BBC ● Jan. 8, 2026

Polyneices won her over to his side by bribing her with the wonderful necklace that had been the wedding gift of his ancestress Harmonia, and she made her husband go to the war.

From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton

Related Words

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