blackmail
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a) A certain rate of money, corn, cattle, or other thing, anciently paid, in the north of England and south of Scotland, to certain men who were allied to robbers, or moss troopers, to be by them protected from pillage.
b) Payment of money exacted by means of intimidation; also,
extortion of money from a person by threats of public accusation, exposure, or censure.
: to extort money by threats, as of injury to ones reputation
To extort money from by exciting fears of injury other than bodily harm, as injury to reputation, distress of mind, etc.; as, to blackmail a merchant by threatening to expose an alleged fraud.
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blackmail — black·mail / blak ˌmāl/ n [originally, payment extorted from farmers in Scotland and northern England, from black + dialectal mail payment, rent]: extortion or coercion by often written threats esp. of public exposure, physical harm, or criminal… … Law dictionary
Blackmail — is the crime of threatening to reveal substantially true information about a person to the public, a family member, or associates unless a demand made upon the victim is met. This information is usually of an embarrassing and/or socially damaging … Wikipedia
Blackmail — (engl. „Erpressung“) bezeichnet: im englischen den Erpresserbrief eines Blackhanders (Synonym für Erpresser); siehe Black Hand (Erpressung) Blackmail, Originaltitel des Films Erpressung von Alfred Hitchcock von 1929 Blackmail, Originaltitel des… … Deutsch Wikipedia
Blackmail — Black mail , n. [Black + mail a piece of money.] 1. A certain rate of money, corn, cattle, or other thing, anciently paid, in the north of England and south of Scotland, to certain men who were allied to robbers, or moss troopers, to be by them… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
Blackmail — Black mail , v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Blackmailed}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Blackmailing}.] To extort money from by exciting fears of injury other than bodily harm, as injury to reputation, distress of mind, etc.; as, to blackmail a merchant by threatening… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
blackmail — [n] intimidation for money; money to quiet informer bribe, bribery, exaction, extortion, hush money*, milking*, payoff, protection, ransom, slush fund*, tribute; concepts 123,192 blackmail [v] intimidating for money badger, bleed, coerce, compel … New thesaurus
blackmail — ► NOUN 1) the demanding of money from someone in return for not revealing discreditable information. 2) the use of threats or manipulation in an attempt to influence someone s actions. ► VERB ▪ subject to blackmail. DERIVATIVES blackmailer noun.… … English terms dictionary
blackmail — [blak′māl΄] n. [lit., black rent < ME male, rent, tribute < OE mal, lawsuit, terms < ON lawsuit, discussion; infl. in ME by OFr maille, a coin] 1. Historical a tribute paid to freebooters and bandits along the Scottish border to assure… … English World dictionary
blackmail — ▪ I. blackmail black‧mail 1 [ˈblækmeɪl] noun [uncountable] LAW demanding money from a person or organization by threatening them, for example threatening to tell secrets about them if they do not pay: • Most of his wealth had been acquired… … Financial and business terms
Blackmail — Para Película de Lesley Selander, véase Blackmail (1947). Blackmail Museo Británico, donde se desarrolla el climax de la película Título Blackmail … Wikipedia Español
blackmail — [[t]blæ̱kmeɪl[/t]] blackmails, blackmailing, blackmailed 1) N UNCOUNT Blackmail is the action of threatening to reveal a secret about someone, unless they do something you tell them to do, such as giving you money. It looks like the pictures were … English dictionary
