BLACKMAIL | definition in the Cambridge English Dictionary

Meaning of blackmail in English

(Definition of blackmail from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)
(Definition of blackmail from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)
(Definition of blackmail from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of blackmail

blackmail
Instead, information about illegal activities is collected by the security services, by private entities, and used to control people through blackmail.
And in the next note she'd be threatening to blackmail her, for all the dark and secret things she'd done before she became famous.
From NPR
He had something he could blackmail all of us with.
Why bother with diplomacy when blackmail and manipulation are so much more expedient?
In turn, that means more people that could be susceptible to bribes and blackmail from less democracy friendly nations.
From CBS News
It is nothing more than a euphemism for political corruption, including bullying, blackmail and bribery.
He is blackmailed into revealing plans for an advanced nuclear facility.
When a top government investigator could not be bribed, cartel agents set him up for seduction, scandal and blackmail.
Still, no amount of sass deserved that "never cross me" blackmail speech.
From TIME
You can't blackmail someone with information they have already revealed publicly.
The first thing to say about this comment is that is sounds like political blackmail.
Those who blunder on down this path can become vulnerable to virtual blackmail, by a similarly ruthless spouse.
But the most devious plot was the mutual blackmail between me and a certain babysitter.
These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.
 

Translations of blackmail

in Chinese (Traditional)
敲詐,勒索, 訛詐, 脅迫…
in Chinese (Simplified)
敲诈,勒索, 讹诈, 胁迫…
in Spanish
chantaje, chantajear, chantaje [masculine]…
in Portuguese
chantagem, chantagear, chantagem [feminine]…
in more languages
in Marathi
in Japanese
in Turkish
in French
in Catalan
in Dutch
in Tamil
in Hindi
in Gujarati
in Danish
in Swedish
in Malay
in German
in Norwegian
in Urdu
in Ukrainian
in Russian
in Telugu
in Arabic
in Bengali
in Czech
in Indonesian
in Thai
in Vietnamese
in Polish
in Korean
in Italian
ब्लॅकमेल, धमकी देऊन पैसे उकळणे किंवा आपले काम करून घेणे, ब्लॅकमेल करणे…
脅迫, 恐喝, ~を脅迫する…
şantaj, şantaj yapmak…
faire chanter, chantage [masculine], chantage…
xantatge, fer xantatge a…
chanteren, chantage…
மக்களிடமிருந்து பணம் பெறுவது அல்லது அவர்களின் ரகசியத்தை சொல்வதாக அச்சுறுத்துவதன் மூலம் அல்லது அவர்களுக்கு தீங்கு விளைவிப்பதாக அச்சுறுத்துவதன் மூலம் அவர்களை ஏதாவது செய்ய கட்டாயப்படுத்தும் செயல், யாரையாவது மிரட்டி பணம் பெறுவது…
ब्लैकमेल, डरा-धमकाकर लोगों से पैसे लेने का काम, भयादोहन…
બદનામ કરવાની ધમકી આપવી, મજબૂર કરવું, મજબૂર…
afpresse, afpresning…
pressa ut pengar av, utpressning…
peras ugut, memeras ugut…
erpressen, die Erpressung…
utpresse, presse, utpressing [masculine]…
بلیک میل (کسی کی کمزوری سے ناجائز فائدہ اٹھانا), بلیک میل کرنا (اشفائے راز کے طور پر رقم وصول کرنا)…
шантажувати, шантаж…
шантаж…
ప్రజల నుండి డబ్బు సంపాదించడం లేక వారి గురించి రహస్యాన్ని చెప్పమని బెదిరించడం ద్వారా లేక వారికి హాని కలిగించే చర్యను బలవంతం చేయడం, బెదిరింపుల ద్వారా ఒకరి నుండి డబ్బు పొందడం…
ابْتِزاز, يَبْتَزّ…
ব্ল্যাকমেল, হুমকি দিয়ে অর্থ আদায়, হুমকি দিয়ে অর্থ আদায় করা…
vydírat, vydírání…
memeras, pemerasan…
ขู่เอาเงินโดยว่าจะเปิดโปงความลับ, การขู่เอาเงินโดยว่าจะเปิดโปงความลับ…
tống tiền, sự tống tiền…
szantaż, szantażować…
협박, 협박을 하다…
ricatto, ricattare…
Need a translator?

Get a quick, free translation!

 

Word of the Day

mountain climber

UK
/ˈmaʊn.tɪn ˌklaɪ.mər/
US
/ˈmaʊn.tən ˌklaɪ.mɚ/

a person who climbs mountains as a sport

About this

New Words

More new words
has been added to list
Follow us
Choose a dictionary
  • Recent and Recommended
  • Definitions
    Clear explanations of natural written and spoken English
    English Learner’s Dictionary Essential British English Essential American English
  • Grammar and thesaurus
    Usage explanations of natural written and spoken English
    Grammar Thesaurus
  • Pronunciation
    British and American pronunciations with audio
    English Pronunciation
  • Translation
    Click on the arrows to change the translation direction.
    Bilingual Dictionaries
    • English–Chinese (Simplified) Chinese (Simplified)–English
    • English–Chinese (Traditional) Chinese (Traditional)–English
    • English–Dutch Dutch–English
    • English–French French–English
    • English–German German–English
    • English–Indonesian Indonesian–English
    • English–Italian Italian–English
    • English–Japanese Japanese–English
    • English–Norwegian Norwegian–English
    • English–Polish Polish–English
    • English–Portuguese Portuguese–English
    • English–Spanish Spanish–English
    • English–Swedish Swedish–English
    Semi-bilingual Dictionaries
    English–Arabic English–Bengali English–Catalan English–Czech English–Danish English–Gujarati English–Hindi English–Korean English–Malay English–Marathi English–Russian English–Tamil English–Telugu English–Thai English–Turkish English–Ukrainian English–Urdu English–Vietnamese
  • Dictionary +Plus
    Word Lists
My word lists

To add blackmail to a word list please sign up or log in.

Sign up or Log in
My word lists

Add blackmail to one of your lists below, or create a new one.

More
Go to your word lists
Tell us about this example sentence: