bribe
to give money or presents to someone so that they will help you by doing something dishonest or illegal.
He tried to bribe the judge.
او سعی کرد به قاضى رشوه بدهد.
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
bribe
I. bribe1 /braɪb/ verb [transitive]
1. to illegally give someone, especially a public official, money or a gift in order to persuade them to do something for you:
The only way we could get into the country was by bribing the border officials.
bribe somebody to do something
He bribed one of the guards to smuggle out a note.
2. to offer someone, especially a child, something special in order to persuade them to do something
bribe somebody with something
Sam wouldn’t do her homework until I bribed her with ice cream.
II. bribe2 noun [countable]
[Date: 1300-1400; Language: Old French; Origin: 'bread given to a beggar']
1. money or a gift that you illegally give someone to persuade them to do something for you:
The officials said that they had been offered bribes before an important game.
accept/take a bribe
A Supreme Court judge was charged with taking bribes.
2. something special offered to someone, especially a child, in order to persuade them to do something
• • •
COLLOCATIONS
verbs
▪ offer somebody a bribe Some sportsmen have been offered bribes to perform badly.
▪ accept/take a bribe Any officials who accept bribes will face criminal charges.
▪ give somebody a bribe They issued passports to people who gave them bribes.
▪ pay a bribe It was claimed that the company paid bribes to win the contract.
bribe + NOUN
▪ bribe money The mayor is accused of accepting bribe money.
Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary
bribe
bribe [bribe bribes bribed bribing] noun, verb [braɪb] [braɪb]
noun
a sum of money or sth valuable that you give or offer to sb to persuade them to help you, especially by doing sth dishonest
• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office.
• She had been offered a $50 000 bribe to drop the charges.
Word Origin:
late Middle English: from Old French briber, brimber ‘beg’, of unknown origin. The original sense was ‘rob, extort’, hence (as a noun) ‘theft, stolen goods’, also ‘money extorted or demanded for favours’, later ‘offer money as an incentive’ (early 16th cent.).
Thesaurus:
bribe noun C
• She was offered a large bribe to drop the charges.
inducement • • bait • |especially AmE kickback • |informal, usually disapproving pay-off •
£1 000/$500, etc. bribe/pay-off
offer (sb) a/an bribe/inducement/pay-off
take bribes/the bait/kickbacks
Collocations:
Crime
Committing a crime
commit a crime/a murder/a violent assault/a brutal killing/an armed robbery/fraud
be involved in terrorism/a suspected arson attack/people smuggling/human trafficking
engage/participate in criminal activity/illegal practices/acts of mindless vandalism
steal sb's wallet/purse/(BrE) mobile phone/(NAmE) cell phone
rob a bank/a person/a tourist
break into/ (BrE) burgle/ (NAmE) burglarize a house/a home/an apartment
hijack a plane/ship/bus
smuggle drugs/weapons/arms/immigrants
launder drug money (through sth)
forge documents/certificates/passports
take/accept/pay sb/offer (sb) a bribe
run a phishing/an email/an Internet scam
Fighting crime
combat/fight crime/terrorism/corruption/drug trafficking
prevent/stop credit-card fraud/child abuse/software piracy
deter/stop criminals/burglars/thieves/shoplifters/vandals
reduce/tackle/crack down on knife/gun/violent/street crime; (especially BrE) antisocial behaviour
foil a bank raid/a terrorist plot
help/support/protect the victims of crime
Investigating crime
report a crime/a theft/a rape/an attack/(especially BrE) an incident to the police
witness the crime/attack/murder/incident
investigate a murder/(especially NAmE) a homicide/a burglary/a robbery/the alleged incident
conduct/launch/pursue an investigation (into…); (especially BrE) a police/murder inquiry
investigate/reopen a criminal/murder case
examine/investigate/find fingerprints at the crime scene/the scene of crime
collect/gather forensic evidence
uncover new evidence/a fraud/a scam/a plot/a conspiracy/political corruption/a cache of weapons
describe/identify a suspect/the culprit/the perpetrator/the assailant/the attacker
question/interrogate a suspect/witness
solve/crack the case
more collocations at justice
Example Bank:
• He paid out millions of dollars in bribes.
• a bribe of €200
• He was alleged to have accepted bribes while in office.
• The company denied that the money was intended as a bribe.
• The tax cut was described as a pre-election bribe.
verb
to give sb money or sth valuable in order to persuade them to help you, especially by doing sth dishonest
• ~ sb (with sth) They bribed the guards with cigarettes.
• ~ sb into doing sth She was bribed into handing over secret information.
• ~ sb to do sth She bribed him to sign the certificate.
• ~ your way… He managed to bribe his way onto the ship.
Word Origin:
late Middle English: from Old French briber, brimber ‘beg’, of unknown origin. The original sense was ‘rob, extort’, hence (as a noun) ‘theft, stolen goods’, also ‘money extorted or demanded for favours’, later ‘offer money as an incentive’ (early 16th cent.).
Example Bank:
• He must have bribed his way out of the prison.
• He managed to bribe his way onto the ship.
Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary
bribe
bribe /braɪb/
verb [T]
to try to make someone do something for you by giving them money, presents or something else that they want:
He bribed immigration officials and entered the country illegally.
[+ to infinitive] They bribed the waiter to find them a better table.
bribe /braɪb/
noun [C]
money or a present that you give to someone so that they will do something for you, usually something dishonest:
He was accused of accepting/taking bribes from wealthy businessmen.
bribery /ˈbraɪ.bər.i/ US /-bɚ-/
noun [U]
The organization was rife with bribery and corruption.
