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blackmail

 - 4 dictionary results
Extortion
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black⋅mail

  [blak-meyl]
–noun
1. any payment extorted by intimidation, as by threats of injurious revelations or accusations.
2. the extortion of such payment: He confessed rather than suffer the dishonor of blackmail.
3. a tribute formerly exacted in the north of England and in Scotland by freebooting chiefs for protection from pillage.
–verb (used with object)
4. to extort money from (a person) by the use of threats.
5. to force or coerce into a particular action, statement, etc.: The strikers claimed they were blackmailed into signing the new contract.
Use blackmail in a Sentence
Origin:
1545–55; black + mail 3

Related forms:
blackmailer, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2010.
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Extortion
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black·mail   (blāk'māl')   
n.  

    1. Extortion of money or something else of value from a person by the threat of exposing a criminal act or discreditable information.

    2. Something of value extorted in this manner.

  2. Tribute formerly paid to freebooters along the Scottish border for protection from pillage.


[black + mail3.]
black'mail' v., black'mail'er n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

blackmail 
1552, second element is M.E. male "rent, tribute," from O.E. mal "lawsuit, terms, bargaining, agreement," from O.N. mal "speech, agreement;" related to O.E. mæðel "meeting, council," mæl "speech," Goth. maþl "meeting place." From the practice of freebooting clan chieftains who ran protection rackets against Scottish farmers. Black from the evil of the practice. Expanded c.1826 to any type of extortion money. Verb is 1880.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Legal Dictionary

Main Entry: black·mail
Pronunciation: 'blak-"mAl
Function: noun
Etymology: 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 prosecution —blackmail transitive verb —black·mail·er /-"mA-l&r/ noun
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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