graymail
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of graymail
1975–80; gray 1 (in sense “indeterminate”) + (black)mail
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.
“CIPA will thwart the graymail problem, but that does sometimes take time.”
From Salon • Nov. 22, 2023
Congress enacted the Classified Information Procedures Act, or CIPA, in 1980 in an effort to reduce the chances that graymail would derail prosecutions of people in cases involving national security secrets.
From New York Times • Jun. 19, 2023
The law was intended to reduce the opportunities for so-called graymail in criminal cases involving national security, in which defendants threaten to expose sensitive secrets unless prosecutors drop charges against them.
From New York Times • Jun. 12, 2023
The CIA's worries were rekindled when Boyce threatened "graymail": the introduction of sensitive information in his testimony.
From Time Magazine Archive
Lawyers call threats by defense attorneys to disclose classified information "graymail."
From Time Magazine Archive
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
