BRIBERY
buy someone off
to bribe someone; to win someone over by gifts or favors.It's not hard to buy politicians off.They bought off the whole city council with campaign contributions.
grease someone's palm and oil someone's palm
to bribe someone. (Slang.)If you want to get something done around here, you have to grease someone's palm.I'd never oil a police officer's palm. That's illegal.
hush money
money paid as a bribe to persuade someone to remain silent and not reveal certain information.Bob gave his younger sister hush money so that she wouldn't tell Jane that he had gone to the movies with Sue.The crooks paid Fred hush money to keep their whereabouts secret.
pay someone off
to pay someone a bribe (for a favor already done).The lawyer was put in prison for paying the judge off. The judge was imprisoned also.The lawyer paid off the judge for deciding the case in the lawyer's favor.
drugola
n. a bribe paid by drug dealers to the police for protection.Max pays a little drugola, but mostly the cops never come into this area anyway.A lot of drugola is simply paid in drugs.
fix
1.
n. a bribe.
Rocko never took a fix in his life.The agent paid a fix to the cops.
2.
n. a scheme to influence the outcome of a contest or an election.
Something is wrong with this game. I smell a fix.Bruno planned a great fix, but the cops got wise.
fixed
mod. bribed.Don't worry, the night watchman is fixed.The cop is fixed and won't give you guys any trouble.
fixed
mod. having the outcome prearranged. (Said of a contest, race, or election.)The election was fixed, and we are going to protest.It was not fixed!The race was fixed, but we won anyway.
grease
n. protection money; bribery money.Rocko was in charge of making sure that enough grease was spread around city hall.See that the commissioner of the park district gets a little grease to help us get the contract.
grease someone's palm
tr. to pay someone a bribe.I had to grease the clerk's palm in order to get the job done.Are you trying to grease my palm?
kickback
n. money received in return for a favor.The kickback the cop got wasn't enough, as it turned out.You really don't believe that the cops take kickbacks!
on the take
mod. taking bribes. (Underworld.)I heard that the mayor is on the take.Everyone in city hall is on the take.
palm-oil
n. a bribe; a tip.How much palm-oil does it take to get this deed recorded in reasonable time?The messenger seemed to move his legs faster after an application of palm-oil.
payola
n. any bribe or payoff. (Originally a bribe paid to a disk jockey by record producers to get extra attention for their records.)The announcer was fired for taking payola.There was a big scandal of payola in the 1950s.
plugola
n. a bribe paid to get a free advertising plug (worth far more than the amount of the bribe).How much plugola did you have to pay for that mention?The announcer was charged with accepting plugola.