hush money

hush money idiom
A bribe paid to keep something secret, as in No amount of hush money will keep that scandal from coming out. [c. 1700]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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