Word Finder - bribes

definition

Something (usually money) given in exchange for influence or as an inducement to dishonesty.

definition

That which seduces; seduction; allurement.

definition

To give a bribe to; specifically, to ask a person to do something, usually against his/her will, in exchange for some type of reward or relief from potential trouble.

example

She was accused of trying to bribe the jury into making false statements.

definition

To gain by a bribe; to induce as by a bribe.

example

to bribe somebody's compliance

This outrage, coupled with his appropriation of temple vessels, which he used as bribes, raised against Menelaus the senate and the people of Jerusalem.

At the election diet of 1669 he accepted large bribes from Louis XIV.

In 324 the Areopagus, after inquiry, reported that nine men had taken bribes from Harpalus, the fugitive treasurer of Alexander.

Even when the visit to the Horde did not end so tragically, it involved a great deal of anxiety and expense, for the Mongol dignitaries had to be conciliated very liberally, and it was commonly believed that the judges were more influenced by the amount of the bribes than by the force of the arguments.

The figures are no longer abstractions; they are concrete examples of the folly of the bibliophile who collects books but learns nothing from them, of the evil judge who takes bribes to favour the guilty, of the old fool whom time merely strengthens in his folly, of those who are eager to follow the fashions, of the priests who spend their time in church telling "gestes" of Robin Hood and so forth.

He soon convinced himself that western Europe had nothing to fear from Charles, and that no bribes were necessary to turn the Swedish arms from Germany to Russia.

The insults of Talleyrand, and his shameless attempts to extort bribes from the American commissioners, roused the deep anger of the people against France.

He sent large bribes to influential persons at Constantinople; he aided the Turkish vali to repress the Christians, who had again revolted; and he supported the Bosnian nobles against reforms imposed by the vali.

However, by sending heavy bribes to Bayezid and his vizier, and by offering to build a mosque and.

The viceroy of Egypt, Ismail Pasha, followed his suzerain's example in this respect, and was lavish in his bribes to his imperial overlord to obtain the extension of his own privileges and the establishment in Egypt of succession from father to son; these concessions were granted to him by the firmans of the 27th of May 1866 and the 8th of June 1867, in the latter of which the viceroy is addressed for the first time as " khedive."

Half the bribes intended for the Russian court passed through his coffers.

These gifts and pensions were rather in the nature of subsidies than bribes; they were the recognition by various powers of the value of an ally whose pen had proved itself so potent a weapon in their cause.

John was forced to withdraw to Burgundy (August 1413), and the university of Paris and John Gerson once more censured Petit's propositions, which, but for the lavish bribes of money and wines offered by John to the prelates, would have been solemnly condemned at the council of Constance.

Barillon mentions Sacheverell among the Whig leaders who accepted bribes from Louis XIV., but the evidence against him is not conclusive.

The king of Prussia had some reason to complain of the sudden desertion of his ally, but there is no evidence whatever to substantiate his accusation that Bute had endeavoured to divert the tsar later from his alliance with Prussia, or that he had treacherously in his negotiations with Vienna held out to that court hopes of territorial compensation in Silesia as the price of the abandonment of France; while the charge brought against Bute in 1765 of having taken bribes to conclude the peace, subsequently after investigation pronounced frivolous by parliament, may safely be ignored.

He was taken from the Federal service in Washington to New York City by a reform mayor and put in charge of the police, because he had shown both physical and moral courage in fighting corruption of all sorts; and the New York police force at that time was thoroughly tainted with corruption, not in its rank and file, but among its superior officers, who used the power in their hands to extort money bribes chiefly from saloonkeepers, liquor-dealers, gamblers and prostitutes.

The primary offence of the ex-chancellor was the taking of bribes, which no twisting of the law could convert into a capital offence, while the charge of treason had not been substantiated.

France and Spain were then about to partition Portugal, and the Spanish forces were beginning to invade that land, when the court of Lisbon succeeded, owing (it is said) to the free use of bribes, in inducing Godoy, the Spanish minister, and Lucien Bonaparte to sign the preliminaries of peace on the 6th of June 1801 at Badajoz.

He stirred up his own clergy, he wrote to encourage the dissidents at Constantinople, he addressed himself to the sister and wife of the emperor (Theodosius himself being known to be still favourable to Nestorius), and he beggared the clergy of his own diocese to find bribes for the officials of the court.

His cruelty and licentiousness, coupled with his accessibility to bribes, led to a great increase of crime in Judaea.

Thus, at the election diet of 1669, one of the deputies, Pieniaszek, moved that a new and hitherto unheard-of clause should be inserted in the agenda of the general confederation, to the effect that every senator .and deputy should solemnly swear not to take bribes, while another szlacic proposed that the ambassadors of foreign Powers should be excluded permanently from the Polish elective assemblies.

Caesar had no resource left but uncompromising obstruction, which he sustained by enormous bribes.

The Delphic oracle, under the influence of Cleomenes' bribes, pronounced in favour of Leotychides, who became king (491 B.C.).

Further, a special commission was to be appointed to try and sentence all judices guilty of taking bribes.

They were maladroit enough to attack him on his least vulnerable side, summoning him before the privy council to answer to a charge of receiving bribes in the administration of justice.

The king's acceptance of two bribes - one of $75,000 and another of $80,000 for the assignment of an opium licence - precipitated the revolution of 1887.

The successful candidate had to take an oath to the people (that he would not take bribes, &c.) and to go through certain preliminary rites.

They grudged even the contributions necessary for the maintenance of the frontier fortresses, and many of them stooped to accept the bribes he offered them on condition that they should remain quiet.

Akhenatons reform had not reached deep amongst the masses of the population; they probably retained all their old religious customs and superstitions, while the priesthoods throughout the country must have been fiercely opposed to the heretics work, even if silenced during his lifetime by force and bribes.

By a timely sortie, preceded by the administration of bribes to various officers in the Carmathian host, Jauhar succeeded in inflicting a severe defeat on the besiegers, who were compelled to evacuate Egypt and part of Syria.

The Carmathians were gradually forced to retreat from Egypt and then from Syria by some successful engagements, and by the judicious use of bribes, whereby dissension was sown among their leaders.

The disgrace that fell in consequence on his superior, Ali escaped by the use of lavish bribes at Constantinople.

He earned the confidence of the Porte by the cruel discipline he maintained in his own sanjak, and the regular flow of tribute and bribes which he directed to Constantinople; while he bent all his energies to extending his territories at the expense of his neighbours.

Abi `Amir proposed to confiscate a religious foundation and the assembled ulema refused to approve the act, and were threatened by his vizier, one of them replied, "All the evil you say of us applies to yourself; you seek unjust gains and support your injustice by threats; you take bribes and practise ungodliness in the world.

When bribes and threats failed, the sheikh was thrown into chains and treated with great severity, but it was the pasha who finally yielded, and `Abbasi was recalled to honours and rich rewards.

He ruled like a modern capitalist; placed his bribes like investments in the courts of his enemies; and, while draining the land of enormous sums, was pitiless toward the two productive portions of his realm, the country population and the artisans.

He distinguishes three ways in which bribes may be given,' and ingenuously confesses that his own acts amounted to corruption and were worthy of condemnation.

In four cases specifically, and in some others by implication, Bacon confesses that he had received bribes from suitors pendente lite.

Bacon himself disclaims a defence of this nature, and we really have no direct evidence which shows to what extent the offering and receiving of such bribes then prevailed.

So far, then, as the mere taking of bribes is concerned, he would permit no defence, and his own confession and judgment on his action contain as severe a condemnation as has ever been passed upon him.

Demetrius offered many bribes to the Maccabees to obtain Jewish support against his rival, including the revenues of Ptolemais for the benefit of the Temple, but in vain.

In 1824, on a solicitation from Mustafa Khan, who had got temporary hold of Herat, more troops were despatched thither, but, by the use of money or bribes, their departure was purchased.

He would rob his own treasury and take bribes to press a measure through the council.

Even judges were expected to live on their perquisites, in the shape of bribes.

Elamite aid was readily forthcoming, especially when stimulated by bribes, and the Arab tribes joined in the revolt.

Sulaimani was occupied in 1910 after heavy bribes had been paid to Sheikh Mahmud; Mahmud Pasha, leader of the Jaf, was induced to go to Mosul and there detained for a year.

He perceived instinctively that a large number, even of those who took greedily the bribes of Walpole and the Peihams, took them, not because they loved money better than their country, but because they had no conception that their country had any need of them at all.

The reason for this change lay partly in the fact that the ephors, chosen by popular election from the whole body of citizens, represented a democratic element in the constitution without violating those oligarchical methods which seemed necessary for its satisfactory administration; partly in the weakness of the kingship, the dual character of which inevitably gave rise to jealousy and discord between the two holders of the office, often resulting in a practical deadlock; partly in the loss of prestige suffered by the kingship, especially during the 5th century, owing to these quarrels, to the frequency with which kings ascended the throne as minors and a regency was necessary, and to the many cases in which a king was, rightly or wrongly, suspected of having accepted bribes from the enemies of the state and was condemned and banished.

In Anjou, Touraine, Maine and Poitou, lords, towns and abbeys made their submission, won over by Philips bribes despite Pope Innocent III.s attempts at intervention.

This wise policy, to which he consistently adhered to the close of his reign, was not followed by his son and successor Constans, who, after repeated attempts to win over the sect by bribes, resorted to persecution.