tea money

noun

1. (especially in parts of China) a bribe used to facilitate any business dealing.

Example Sentences

Land and property are very expensive, and there's the issue of "tea money", the financial lubrication required to get official transactions completed on time.

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The payments go by a variety of euphemisms: tea money for a court stenographer, unlocking fees for court records and tributes for judges.

Read more on New York Times

There had to be money for bribes—tea money, Uncle called it—at both ends of the ocean.

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On top of all that, there is the lack of clarity over the rule of law, an intermittent electricity supply, crumbling infrastructure and what Mr Thein calls the practice of paying "tea money" - small bribes to expedite the cumbersome bureaucracy.

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If necessary they would have collected the tea money.

Read more on The Guardian