bribe
noun
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..
bribed
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past participleof bribe.past participle
A verb form used in perfect and passive verb constructions and that can also function as a modifier.
-
past tense formof bribe.past tense
Used to describe completed actions or previous habitual actions.
bribenounmoney 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..
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Alan García, president from 1985 to 1990 and 2006 to 2011, killed himself in 2019 as he faced imminent arrest over allegations he was bribed by Odebrecht.
From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026
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
He also told investigators that the allegation that he had "bribed" Alison-Madueke was "completely untrue".
From BBC ● Apr. 28, 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
He bribed ship captains and constables, rowed shivering pregnant women across rivers in leaky skiffs, and delivered judges’ release orders to frowning deputies.
From "The Underground Railroad: A Novel" by Colson Whitehead
