extort money, obtain (money, information, etc.) through threat or intimidation
extortion, use of intimidation or force in order to obtain something (money, information, etc.)
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Blackmail Definition from Language, Idioms & Slang Dictionaries & Glossaries
(v. t.)
To extort money from by exciting fears of injury other than bodily harm, as injury to reputation, distress of mind, etc.; as, to blackmail a merchant by threatening to expose an alleged fraud.
To extort money from by exciting fears of injury other than bodily harm, as injury to reputation, distress of mind, etc.; as, to blackmail a merchant by threatening to expose an alleged fraud.
(n.)
Payment of money exacted by means of intimidation; also, extortion of money from a person by threats of public accusation, exposure, or censure.
Payment of money exacted by means of intimidation; also, extortion of money from a person by threats of public accusation, exposure, or censure.
(n.)
Black rent, or rent paid in corn, flesh, or the lowest coin, a opposed to "white rent", which paid in silver.
Black rent, or rent paid in corn, flesh, or the lowest coin, a opposed to "white rent", which paid in silver.
(n.)
A certain rate of money, corn, cattle, or other thing, anciently paid, in the north of England and south of Scotland, to certain men who were allied to robbers, or moss troopers, to be by them protected from pillage.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), edited by Noah Porter. AboutA certain rate of money, corn, cattle, or other thing, anciently paid, in the north of England and south of Scotland, to certain men who were allied to robbers, or moss troopers, to be by them protected from pillage.
blackmail
\black"mail`\ (&?;), n. [black + mail a piece of money.]
1. a certain rate of money, corn, cattle, or other thing, anciently paid, in the north of england and south of scotland, to certain men who were allied to robbers, or moss troopers, to be by them protected from pillage. w. scott.
2. payment of money exacted by means of intimidation; also, extortion of money from a person by threats of public accusation, exposure, or censure.
3. (eng. law) black rent, or rent paid in corn, flesh, or the lowest coin, a opposed to "white rent", which paid in silver.
similar words(1)
to levy blackmail
Noun
1. extortion of money by threats to divulge discrediting information
(hypernym) extortion
(derivation) blackjack, pressure
Verb
1. exert pressure on someone through threats
(synonym) blackjack, pressure
(hypernym) influence, act upon, work
2. obtain through threats
(hypernym) extort
(classification) crime, law-breaking
Blackmail Definition from Encyclopedia Dictionaries & Glossaries
In common usage, blackmail is a crime involving threats to reveal substantially true or false information about a person to the public, a family member, or associates unless a demand is met. It may be defined as coercion involving threats of physical harm, threat of criminal prosecution, or threats for the purposes of taking the person's money or property. It is the name of a statutory offence in the United States, England and Wales, Northern Ireland, and Victoria, and has been used as a convenient way of referring to other offences, but was not a term of art in English law before 1968. It originally denoted a payment made by English people residing along the border of Scotland to influential Scottish chieftains in exchange for protection from thieves and marauders.
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Blackmail Definition from Law Dictionaries & Glossaries
BLACKMAIL - A criminal act of extortion, malicious threatening to do injury to another to compel him to do an act against his will. Usually involves the threat to release information, often true, about the person that will defame his reputation or bring criminal actions against him.
The criminality lies not in the release of the information - at least if true - but in the extortionate aspects of the threat to do so.
BLACK MAIL - When rents were reserved payable in work, grain, and the like, they were called reditus nigri, or black mail, to distinguish them from white rents or blanch farms, or such as were paid in money.
This entry contains material from Bouvier's Legal Dictionary, a work published in the 1850's.
Courtesy of the 'Lectric Law Library.The criminality lies not in the release of the information - at least if true - but in the extortionate aspects of the threat to do so.
BLACK MAIL - When rents were reserved payable in work, grain, and the like, they were called reditus nigri, or black mail, to distinguish them from white rents or blanch farms, or such as were paid in money.
This entry contains material from Bouvier's Legal Dictionary, a work published in the 1850's.
The demanding of money either for performing an existing duty, orfor preventing an injury, or exercising an influence; the extortion of thingsof value from a person by threats of a personal injury, or by threatening toaccuse the person of a crime or an immoral conduct, which if true, would tendto disgrace the person.
