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Definition of Blackmail
1. Noun. Extortion of money by threats to divulge discrediting information.
2. Verb. Exert pressure on someone through threats. "They blackmail him to write the letter"
Generic synonyms: Act Upon, Influence, Work
Derivative terms: Blackmailer, Pressure, Pressure
3. Verb. Obtain through threats.
Generic synonyms: Extort
Derivative terms: Blackmailer
Definition of Blackmail
1. n. 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.
2. v. t. 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.
Definition of Blackmail
1. Noun. (archaic) 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. ¹
2. Noun. Payment of money exacted by means of intimidation; also, extortion of money from a person by threats of public accusation, exposure, or censure. ¹
3. Noun. (context: English law) Black rent, or rent paid in corn, flesh, or the lowest coin, a opposed to white rent, which paid in silver. ¹
4. Verb. (transitive) To extort money from by exciting fears of injury other than bodily harm, such as injury to reputation, distress of mind, false accusation, etc.; as, to blackmail a merchant by threatening to expose an alleged fraud. ¹
¹ Source: wiktionary.com
Definition of Blackmail
1. [v -ED, -ING, -S]
Lexicographical Neighbors of Blackmail
Literary usage of Blackmail
Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:
1. A Treatise on the System of Evidence in Trials at Common Law: Including the by John Henry Wigmore (1915)
"State, 169 Ind., 488, 82 NE 1039 (conspiracy to blackmail K. ; other ... 133,
115 NW 759 (blackmail, by a chief of police, levied on a prostitute ..."
2. A Supplement to A Treatise on the System of Evidence in Trials at Common Law by John Henry Wigmore (1915)
"State, 169 Ind., 488, 82 NE 1039 (conspiracy to blackmail K. ; other ... 133,
115 NW 759 (blackmail, by a chief of police, levied on a prostitute ..."
3. The Contemporary Review (1898)
"THE ART OF blackmail. THE air of London has, for some little time past, been
filled with talk of blackmail in connection with the failure of a certain ..."
4. A Treatise on Criminal Law and Procedure by Thomas Welburn Hughes (1919)
"blackmail OR THREATENING LETTERS. Section 485. Definition. 486. ... Thr is
ordinarily known as blackmail. It is possible that such offenses were punishable ..."
5. Fear God and Take Your Own Part by Theodore Roosevelt (1916)
"CHAPTER XI THE PANAMA blackmail TREATY IN 1903 a shameless and sordid ...
The attempt was blackmail then; and to yield to it now is to yield to blackmail. ..."
6. American Economic Policy and National Security by Theodore H. Moran (1993)
"and conclude (on the basis of Japan's history) that any possibility of being
denied food products (or of being vulnerable to blackmail via a threat of a ..."
7. Sketches of Butte: (from Vigilante Days to Prohibition) by George Wesley Davis (1921)
"In Butte the victims of blackmail are numbered in the hundreds, and the proudest,
... blackmail is not only a heinous offense, but a very common one, ..."
8. A Treatise on the System of Evidence in Trials at Common Law: Including the by John Henry Wigmore (1915)
"State, 169 Ind., 488, 82 NE 1039 (conspiracy to blackmail K. ; other ... 133,
115 NW 759 (blackmail, by a chief of police, levied on a prostitute ..."
9. A Supplement to A Treatise on the System of Evidence in Trials at Common Law by John Henry Wigmore (1915)
"State, 169 Ind., 488, 82 NE 1039 (conspiracy to blackmail K. ; other ... 133,
115 NW 759 (blackmail, by a chief of police, levied on a prostitute ..."
10. The Contemporary Review (1898)
"THE ART OF blackmail. THE air of London has, for some little time past, been
filled with talk of blackmail in connection with the failure of a certain ..."
11. A Treatise on Criminal Law and Procedure by Thomas Welburn Hughes (1919)
"blackmail OR THREATENING LETTERS. Section 485. Definition. 486. ... Thr is
ordinarily known as blackmail. It is possible that such offenses were punishable ..."
12. Fear God and Take Your Own Part by Theodore Roosevelt (1916)
"CHAPTER XI THE PANAMA blackmail TREATY IN 1903 a shameless and sordid ...
The attempt was blackmail then; and to yield to it now is to yield to blackmail. ..."
13. American Economic Policy and National Security by Theodore H. Moran (1993)
"and conclude (on the basis of Japan's history) that any possibility of being
denied food products (or of being vulnerable to blackmail via a threat of a ..."
14. Sketches of Butte: (from Vigilante Days to Prohibition) by George Wesley Davis (1921)
"In Butte the victims of blackmail are numbered in the hundreds, and the proudest,
... blackmail is not only a heinous offense, but a very common one, ..."
Other Resources:
Scottish Gaelic