1
: money or favor given or promised in order to influence the judgment or conduct of a person in a position of trust
police officers accused of taking bribes
2
: something that serves to induce or influence
offered the kid a bribe to finish his homework
bribed; bribing
: to influence the judgment or conduct of (someone) with or as if with offers of money or favor : to induce or influence by or as if by bribery
attempting to bribe a judge
bribing a child with candy
: to practice bribery
Examples of bribe in a Sentence
Noun
I offered the children a bribe for finishing their homework.
that judge refused a huge bribe to dismiss the charges against the wealthy defendant
Verb
She was arrested for attempting to bribe a judge.
They bribed him to keep quiet about the incident.
We bribed the children with candy.
Recent Examples on the Web
Gayla Cawley, Boston Herald, 22 Apr. 2025
Federal prosecutors accused Nadine and Bob Menendez of taking hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes in the form of cash, gold bars and lavish gifts from three New Jersey businessmen who sought help with legal troubles and business affairs.
—Ella Lee, The Hill, 21 Apr. 2025
Michael Kan, PC Magazine, 28 Mar. 2025
His administration has even rolled back anti-corruption measures that prevent foreign governments from bribing U.S. government officials.
—Faisal Kutty, Newsweek, 11 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for bribe
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Noun
She was infamously shown stuffing $1,000 in cash bribes into her bra in a photo that was released by the feds.
—Gayla Cawley, Boston Herald, 22 Apr. 2025
Federal prosecutors accused Nadine and Bob Menendez of taking hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes in the form of cash, gold bars and lavish gifts from three New Jersey businessmen who sought help with legal troubles and business affairs.
—Ella Lee, The Hill, 21 Apr. 2025
Verb
But the alleged loopholes in the carrier’s security may refer to how hackers previously tried to bribe T-Mobile employees into engineering SIM swaps.
—Michael Kan, PC Magazine, 28 Mar. 2025
His administration has even rolled back anti-corruption measures that prevent foreign governments from bribing U.S. government officials.
—Faisal Kutty, Newsweek, 11 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for bribe
Cite this Entry
“Bribe.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bribe. Accessed 27 Apr. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
bribe
1 of 2 noun
: something given or promised to a person in order to influence a decision or action dishonestly
bribe
2 of 2 verb
bribed; bribing
: to influence or try to influence by a bribe
briber
noun
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share