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blackmail
noun
- Historical a tribute paid to freebooters and bandits along the Scottish border to assure safety from looting
- payment extorted by threatening to disclose information that could bring disgrace or ruin
- the extortion of such payment
transitive verb
- to get or try to get blackmail from
- to coerce (into doing something) as by threats
Related Forms:
- blackmailer noun
See blackmail in American Heritage Dictionary 4
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