blackmail
verb/ˈblækmeɪl/
/ˈblækmeɪl/
Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they blackmail | /ˈblækmeɪl/ /ˈblækmeɪl/ |
| he / she / it blackmails | /ˈblækmeɪlz/ /ˈblækmeɪlz/ |
| past simple blackmailed | /ˈblækmeɪld/ /ˈblækmeɪld/ |
| past participle blackmailed | /ˈblækmeɪld/ /ˈblækmeɪld/ |
| -ing form blackmailing | /ˈblækmeɪlɪŋ/ /ˈblækmeɪlɪŋ/ |
- to force somebody to give you money or do something for you by threatening them, for example by saying you will tell people a secret about them
- blackmail somebody She blackmailed him for years by threatening to tell the newspapers about their affair.
- blackmail somebody into doing something The president said he wouldn't be blackmailed into agreeing to the terrorists' demands.
Extra ExamplesTopics Crime and punishmentc1- Don't let him emotionally blackmail you.
- She says she was virtually blackmailed into giving up her claim to the property.
- Voters were effectively blackmailed into voting ‘Yes’.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- effectively
- virtually
- emotionally
- …
- attempt to
- try to
- into
Word Originmid 16th cent. (denoting protection money levied by Scottish chiefs): from black + obsolete mail ‘tribute, rent’, from Old Norse mál ‘speech, agreement’.
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blackmail