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tea money

American  

noun

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


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.

See Examples For:

If necessary they would have collected the tea money.

From The Guardian Mar. 18, 2011

The gist was that it's all a bit of a shame, a bit unfortunate, about the level of someone denying allegations that they had forgotten to pay their tea money.

From The Guardian Apr. 28, 2010

No longer is "tea money" necessary to get in to see a government official.

From Time Magazine Archive

Office "peons" no longer demand "tea money" for leading callers to officials.

From Time Magazine Archive

I intended of giving "tea money" after breakfast, but I became disgusted, and taking out one 5-yen bill told her to take it to the office later.

From Botchan (Master Darling) by Yasotaro Morri

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