bribery
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
the act of giving money or a gift to someone so they will do something for you, usually something dishonest or illegal.
the criminal act of offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting any item of value to influence the actions of an official or other person in charge of a public or legal duty.
Simple“The businessman was arrested for bribery after he tried to pay the police officer to ignore his crime.”
In context“The investigation uncovered a systemic culture of bribery within the department, where lucrative contracts were routinely exchanged for undisclosed cash payments.”
UsageUncountable when referring to the general practice; countable when referring to specific instances or charges.
Teacher's tipLearners often confuse 'bribery' (the crime) with 'bribe' (the gift itself). Use 'bribery' for the concept and 'bribe' for the object.
Synonyms
From bribe + -ery.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.