buy off

verb

1. (tr, adverb) to pay (a person or group) to drop a charge, end opposition, relinquish a claim, etc

Idioms and Phrases

Pay to get rid of a claim or opposition, or to avoid prosecution, as in He was caught trying to buy off the opposing candidate. [First half of 1600s]

Example Sentences

Or her Delhi architecture school days, when she was too broke for jewellery and wore "cow beads" - fat glass beads strung across cow horns, bought off herdsmen near the hostel.

From BBC

So far from buying off welfare rebels by that U-turn, they seem to have been emboldened.

From BBC

She said "cakeism, profligacy and hubris at the very top" led to "a failure to reign in expenditure" and that she "chose not to be bought off".

From BBC

Still others, just as exhausted by high murder and kidnapping rates, and having lost confidence in Mexican law enforcement often bought off by criminals, have started to lean toward welcoming U.S. troops.

From Los Angeles Times

But the prosecution rejected that claim, saying the combined effects of alcohol and a "fixation" with diazepam, which he was buying off the streets, had sent him into a violent rage.

From BBC

Related Words

• lubricate