bribe
an illegal payment
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
German ex-minister admits BRIBE
(BBC News)
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A Los Angeles Fire Department inspector has been charged with accepting BRIBES from several people who run nursing homes…
(San Jose Mercury News)
(BBC News)
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A Los Angeles Fire Department inspector has been charged with accepting BRIBES from several people who run nursing homes…
(San Jose Mercury News)
Did you
know?
bribe
noun
- money or a present that you give to someone so that they will do something for you, usually something dishonest
verb
- to try to make someone do something for you by giving them money, presents or something else that they want
(Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)
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DID YOU KNOW?
The word "bribe" is Latin in origin and originally referred to a small piece of food given to a poor person. It was later adopted by the French during the medieval period to describe a piece of bread or meal leftovers provided to a beggar. The English modified the usage to mean a "present or gift" and it eventually assumed the current negative context of a gift that is intended to influence someone's behaviour, often in some illegal way.
Bribes can take many different forms, from harmless things such as giving a child a sweet in return for behaving nicely (child psychologists may not consider this harmless) to paying a government official large sums of money to obtain a favour. Famous Arctic explorer Ernest Shackleton once learned a new meaning to the word bribe.
He asked British statesman David Lloyd George for advice on how to raise money for an expedition. Lloyd George was happy to help and introduced him to an acquaintance who was a millionaire.
Lloyd George later asked Shackleton how the meeting had gone. "Very well indeed," the explorer replied, "your friend was most charming and considerate. He offered me ten thousand pounds for my expenses, provided I take you with me to the Pole. And he promised me one million pounds if I would leave you there by mistake."
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SYNONYMS
noun
buyoff, compensation, corrupt money, enticement, envelope, feedbag, fringe benefit, gift, goody, graft, gratuity, gravy, grease, hush money, ice, incentive, inducement, kickback, payola, perk, present, sweetener
verb
buy, buy off, coax, corrupt, entice, fix, grease palm, influence, lubricate, make a deal, oil palm, pay off, reward, seduce, sweeten the pot, take care of, tempt, tip
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SMUGGLE OWAD INTO TODAY'S CONVERSATION:
"It's a sad fact of life that the offering of bribes is standard practice in many developing countries."
noun
- money or a present that you give to someone so that they will do something for you, usually something dishonest
verb
- to try to make someone do something for you by giving them money, presents or something else that they want
(Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)
---
DID YOU KNOW?
The word "bribe" is Latin in origin and originally referred to a small piece of food given to a poor person. It was later adopted by the French during the medieval period to describe a piece of bread or meal leftovers provided to a beggar. The English modified the usage to mean a "present or gift" and it eventually assumed the current negative context of a gift that is intended to influence someone's behaviour, often in some illegal way.
Bribes can take many different forms, from harmless things such as giving a child a sweet in return for behaving nicely (child psychologists may not consider this harmless) to paying a government official large sums of money to obtain a favour. Famous Arctic explorer Ernest Shackleton once learned a new meaning to the word bribe.
He asked British statesman David Lloyd George for advice on how to raise money for an expedition. Lloyd George was happy to help and introduced him to an acquaintance who was a millionaire.
Lloyd George later asked Shackleton how the meeting had gone. "Very well indeed," the explorer replied, "your friend was most charming and considerate. He offered me ten thousand pounds for my expenses, provided I take you with me to the Pole. And he promised me one million pounds if I would leave you there by mistake."
---
SYNONYMS
noun
buyoff, compensation, corrupt money, enticement, envelope, feedbag, fringe benefit, gift, goody, graft, gratuity, gravy, grease, hush money, ice, incentive, inducement, kickback, payola, perk, present, sweetener
verb
buy, buy off, coax, corrupt, entice, fix, grease palm, influence, lubricate, make a deal, oil palm, pay off, reward, seduce, sweeten the pot, take care of, tempt, tip
---
SMUGGLE OWAD INTO TODAY'S CONVERSATION:
"It's a sad fact of life that the offering of bribes is standard practice in many developing countries."
