BRIBE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does bribe mean? 

• BRIBE (noun)
  The noun BRIBE has 1 sense:

1. payment made to a person in a position of trust to corrupt his judgment

  Familiarity information: BRIBE used as a noun is very rare.

• BRIBE (verb)
  The verb BRIBE has 1 sense:

1. make illegal payments to in exchange for favors or influence

  Familiarity information: BRIBE used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• BRIBE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Payment made to a person in a position of trust to corrupt his judgment

Classified under:

Nouns denoting possession and transfer of possession

Synonyms:

bribe; payoff

Hypernyms ("bribe" is a kind of...):

payment (a sum of money paid or a claim discharged)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "bribe"):

hush money (a bribe paid to someone to insure that something is kept secret)

kickback (a commercial bribe paid by a seller to a purchasing agent in order to induce the agent to enter into the transaction)

payola (a bribe given to a disc jockey to induce him to promote a particular record)

soap (money offered as a bribe)

Derivation:

bribe (make illegal payments to in exchange for favors or influence)

• BRIBE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they bribe    ... he / she / it bribes   
Past simple: bribed   
Past participle: bribed   
-ing form: bribing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Make illegal payments to in exchange for favors or influence

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Synonyms:

bribe; buy; corrupt; grease one's palms

Context example:

This judge can be bought

Hypernyms (to "bribe" is one way to...):

pay (give money, usually in exchange for goods or services)

Domain category:

crime; criminal offence; criminal offense; law-breaking ((criminal law) an act punishable by law; usually considered an evil act)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "bribe"):

sop (give a conciliatory gift or bribe to)

buy off; pay off (pay someone with influence in order to receive a favor)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Sentence example:

Sam cannot bribe Sue

Derivation:

bribable (capable of being corrupted)

bribe (payment made to a person in a position of trust to corrupt his judgment)

briber (someone who pays (or otherwise incites) you to commit a wrongful act)

bribery (the practice of offering something (usually money) in order to gain an illicit advantage)

 Context examples 

She hated calls of the formal sort, and never made any till Amy compelled her with a bargain, bribe, or promise.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Miss Spenlow endeavoured, said Miss Murdstone, to bribe me with kisses, work-boxes, and small articles of jewellery—that, of course, I pass over.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

She came down and brought money with her, trying to bribe me to go.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He whined placatingly, squirmed and wriggled to show his good will and intentions, and even ventured, as a bribe for peace, to lick Buck’s face with his warm wet tongue.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

Fanny, Fanny, I see you smile and look cunning, but, upon my honour, I never bribed a physician in my life.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

Whether they were always so free from avarice, partialities, or want, that a bribe, or some other sinister view, could have no place among them?

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

As a matter of ethics isn't the man who gives a bribe as bad as the man who takes a bribe? The receiver is as bad as the thief, you know; and you needn't console yourself with any fictitious moral superiority concerning this little deal.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

He was growing more and more excited, and this alarmed me for my father, who was very low that day and needed quiet; besides, I was reassured by the doctor's words, now quoted to me, and rather offended by the offer of a bribe.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

“Do you know, I am filled with a strange uplift; I feel as if all time were echoing through me, as though all powers were mine. I know truth, divine good from evil, right from wrong. My vision is clear and far. I could almost believe in God. But,” and his voice changed and the light went out of his face,—“what is this condition in which I find myself? this joy of living? this exultation of life? this inspiration, I may well call it? It is what comes when there is nothing wrong with one’s digestion, when his stomach is in trim and his appetite has an edge, and all goes well. It is the bribe for living, the champagne of the blood, the effervescence of the ferment—that makes some men think holy thoughts, and other men to see God or to create him when they cannot see him.”

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

The independence she settled on Robert, through resentment against you, has put it in his power to make his own choice; and she has actually been bribing one son with a thousand a-year, to do the very deed which she disinherited the other for intending to do.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)