blackmail
blackmail is defined in Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1913) with 3 senses, and appears in Roget's Thesaurus (1911) with 10 related terms. The full text of each entry is reproduced verbatim below.
Definitions
- 1.Payment of money exacted by means of intimidation; also, extortion of money from a person by threats of public accusation, exposure, or censure.
- 2.(Eng. Law) Black rent, or rent paid in corn, flesh, or the lowest coin, a opposed to "white rent", which paid in silver. To levy blackmail, to extort money by threats, as of injury to one's reputation.
- 3.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. [U. S.]
Source: Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
Synonyms
Related questions
Reverse-dictionary questions
Definition-first questions whose answer is blackmail.
- What is payment of money exacted by means of intimidation; also, extortion of money from a person by threats of public accusation, exposure, or censure called?
- What is 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. [U. S.] called?
Sources
- Definitions: Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
- Synonyms: Roget's Thesaurus, 1911 edition (public domain, via Project Gutenberg eBook #10681).
- Canonical URL: https://worddirectanswers.com/word/blackmail
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