blackmail

blackmail
1. noun
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.

to levy blackmail

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

2. verb
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

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