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
Thomas G. Moukawsher, MSNBC Newsweek, 14 Oct. 2025
Zhi and a network of top executives in the Prince Group are accused of using political influence in multiple countries to protect their criminal enterprise and paid bribes to public officials to avoid actions by law enforcement authorities targeting the scheme, according to prosecutors.
—Dan Mangan, CNBC, 14 Oct. 2025
Jay Weaver, Miami Herald, 13 Oct. 2025
In The Simpsons’ World Cup episode, Homer is asked to referee a match after FIFA fires officials who had been bribed to call matches unfairly.
—Zoe Kaplan, PEOPLE, 11 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for bribe
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Noun
But the greatest beneficiary in the bribe-a-thon is definitely Qatar.
—Thomas G. Moukawsher, MSNBC Newsweek, 14 Oct. 2025
Zhi and a network of top executives in the Prince Group are accused of using political influence in multiple countries to protect their criminal enterprise and paid bribes to public officials to avoid actions by law enforcement authorities targeting the scheme, according to prosecutors.
—Dan Mangan, CNBC, 14 Oct. 2025
Verb
According to court records, Recio agreed to bribe Costanzo, who was the DEA supervisor in Miami, in exchange for his providing the private investigator with confidential information about narcotics investigations.
—Jay Weaver, Miami Herald, 13 Oct. 2025
In The Simpsons’ World Cup episode, Homer is asked to referee a match after FIFA fires officials who had been bribed to call matches unfairly.
—Zoe Kaplan, PEOPLE, 11 Oct. 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 17 Oct. 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
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