From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishbribebribe1 /braɪb/ ●○○ verb [transitive] 1 PAY FORto illegally give someone, especially a public official, money or a gift in order to persuade them to do something for you The only way we could get into the country was by bribing the border officials.bribe somebody to do something He bribed one of the guards to smuggle out a note.2 to offer someone, especially a child, something special in order to persuade them to do somethingbribe somebody with something Sam wouldn’t do her homework until I bribed her with ice cream.→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
bribe• He bribed a guard to smuggle a note out of the prison.• No clothes, no corruption, Fong had reasoned: how do you go about bribing a naked man?• He bribed an operator at the transmat port to send us over to the space docks.• Wiedman molested the three boys in a Mesa hotel over three weeks, bribing and threatening them into silence.• But in an entire career, I never knew a judge who I believed was bribed by raw money.• He alleged that the manager had tried to bribe him during a business lunch in 1993.• If you wanted a judge bribed in Chicago, you used to come to my father.• Certainly he had bribed more border guards and Communist officials than he could remember.• Judges are bribed or threatened into making decisions favorable to drug traffickers.• Or you can try bribing some one at the patent office.• Santo was convicted of bribing tax inspectors in Italy.• Amateur name-grabbers, threatened with a court case, can usually be bribed to relinquish a valuable name.• The defence are arguing that he was bribed to withdraw his testimony.bribe somebody to do something• Jones bribed officials to get government contracts.bribe somebody with something• I had to bribe the kids with the promise of lunch at McDonalds. bribebribe2 ●○○ noun [countable] 1 MONEYmoney or a gift that you illegally give someone to persuade them to do something for you The officials said that they had been offered bribes before an important game.accept/take a bribe A Supreme Court judge was charged with taking bribes.2 something special offered to someone, especially a child, in order to persuade them to do somethingCOLLOCATIONSverbsoffer somebody a bribeSome sportsmen have been offered bribes to perform badly.accept/take a bribeAny officials who accept bribes will face criminal charges.give somebody a bribeThey issued passports to people who gave them bribes.pay a bribeIt was claimed that the company paid bribes to win the contract.bribe + NOUNbribe moneyThe mayor is accused of accepting bribe money. Examples from the Corpus
bribe• There was widespread bribery and corruption in the police department.• He was arrested on charges of bribery and corruption.• The inquiry showed that bribery was widespread.• He was arrested by police, who he said, planted cannabis on him to extort a bribe.• They insisted that the money was to cover legitimate expenses, and not a bribe.• In all his years of public service, he has only been offered a bribe once.• The judge admitted that he had accepted bribes.• The judge was accused of accepting bribes.• His lawyer says he was entrapped by overzealous prosecutors who wrongly characterized campaign contributions as bribes.• He offered me a cash bribe to help him secure the contract.• The violent citizens sought to kill or abduct the Pope when Barbarossa refused to pay them an immense bribe.• A customs official pocketed up to $500,000 in bribes for permitting cocaine to pass through the port.• They paid millions in bribes to tax officials in order to avoid investigation.• In 1994, a major trial involving bribes paid by subsidiaries of Ferruzzi Finanziaria SpA in 1990 led to numerous convictions.• Agnew was later forced to resign over a little unforeseen matter of bribes and tax evasion stemming from his years in Maryland.• Foreign firms willing to offer bribes typically win 80% of international deals.• Only a minority of managers used threats, offered bribes, or criticized the competition to get their way.• Some companies in Belgium and France had paid bribes for the award of contracts.• During his term in office, he took bribes ranging from 22 million to 220 million yen.• The two brothers regularly used bribes and threats to further their business.accept/take a bribe• First, a media sting operation caught several senior government aides taking bribes from arms dealers.• Corruption, taking bribes, failure to declare a conflict in interests have all constituted contempts. 4.• She is alleged to have accepted a bribe used to finance an election campaign for the minister.• A mere 18 months ago members of his International Olympic Committee stood accused of taking bribes.• Half a dozen senior people in the energy ministry, recently sacked on suspicion of taking bribes, may well join him.• Pay enough and it takes away the need to take a bribe.• Charles Becker, a policeman who took bribes, was tried for the crime and electrocuted at Sing Sing.From Longman Business Dictionarybribebribe1 /braɪb/ noun [countable]LAW an amount of money or something valuable that someone gives you to persuade you to help them or do something dishonest for themUS citizens are forbidden by law from offering bribes to officials of foreign governments.He was to be included in the investigation for allegedly accepting bribes.bribebribe2 verb [transitive]LAW to dishonestly give money to someone to persuade them to do something that will help youHis office-equipment firm had bribed politicians to win public-works contracts.→ See Verb tableOrigin bribe2 (1300-1400) Old French “bread given to a beggar” 