baksheesh

American  

[bak-sheesh, bak-sheesh] / ˈbæk ʃiʃ, bækˈʃiʃ /

Or bakshish,

noun

1. a tip, present, or gratuity.

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verb (used with or without object)

1. to give a tip.

baksheesh British  

/ ˈbækʃiːʃ /

noun

1. money given as a tip, a present, or alms

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verb

1. to give such money to (a person)

Etymology

Origin of baksheesh

First recorded in 1615–25, baksheesh is from the Persian word bakhshish gift

Example Sentences

He was, says David Damrosch, appalled by the hygiene, revolted by the sight of a kebab, too naive to pay the small baksheesh that could have eased every transaction.

From BBC • Mar. 21, 2015

Financial leverage, or baksheesh, can work only up to a point with leaders struggling to control the bewilderingly diverse and ferocious energies unleashed by the Arab Spring.

From New York Times • Sep. 24, 2012

To put a stop to this, it has been necessary to offer special baksheesh in proportion to the size of the pieces.

From The New Yorker • May 6, 1955

Border guards were in on the baksheesh system entrenched in the culture.

From Newsweek

Nominally, they received no pay from us, but the "baksheesh" which we were expected to give them no doubt compensated for the arrears of pay from which the Turkish soldier invariably suffers.

From By Desert Ways to Baghdad by Jebb, Louisa