Crossword clues for extortion
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Extortion \Ex*tor"tion\, n. [F. extorsion.]
The act of extorting; the act or practice of wresting anything from a person by force, by threats, or by any undue exercise of power; undue exaction; overcharge.
(Law) The offense committed by an officer who corruptly claims and takes, as his fee, money, or other thing of value, that is not due, or more than is due, or before it is due.
--Abbott.-
That which is extorted or exacted by force.
Syn: Oppression; rapacity; exaction; overcharge.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
Wiktionary
n. The practice of extorting money or other property by the use of force or threats.
WordNet
n. an exorbitant charge
unjust exaction (as by the misuse of authority); "the extortion by dishonest officials of fees for performing their sworn duty"
the felonious act of extorting money (as by threats of violence)
Wikipedia
Extortion (also called shakedown, outwrestling, and exaction) is a criminal offense of obtaining money, property, or services from an institution, through coercion. It is sometimes euphemistically referred to as a " protection racket" since the racketeers often phrase their demands as payment for "protection" from (real or hypothetical) threats from unspecified other parties. Extortion is commonly practiced by organized crime groups. The actual obtainment of money or property is not required to commit the offense. Making a threat of violence which refers to a requirement of a payment of money or property to halt future violence is sufficient to commit the offense. Exaction refers not only to extortion or the demanding and obtaining of something through force, but additionally, in its formal definition, means the infliction of something such as pain and suffering or making somebody endure something unpleasant.
Extortion is distinguished from robbery. In robbery, whether armed or not, the offender takes property from the victim by the immediate use of force or fear that force will be immediately used (as in the classic line, "Your money or your life.") Extortion, which is not limited to the taking of property, involves the verbal or written instillation of fear that something will happen to the victim if they do not comply with the extortionist's will. Another key distinction is that extortion always involves a verbal or written threat, whereas robbery does not. In United States federal law, extortion can be committed with or without the use of force and with or without the use of a weapon.
In blackmail, which always involves extortion, the extortionist threatens to reveal information about a victim or their family members that is potentially embarrassing, socially damaging, or incriminating unless a demand for money, property, or services is met.
The term extortion is often used metaphorically to refer to usury or to price-gouging, though neither is legally considered extortion. It is also often used loosely to refer to everyday situations where one person feels indebted against their will, to another, in order to receive an essential service or avoid legal consequences.
Neither extortion nor blackmail requires a threat of a criminal act, such as violence, merely a threat used to elicit actions, money, or property from the object of the extortion. Such threats include the filing of reports (true or not) of criminal behavior to the police, revelation of damaging facts (such as pictures of the object of the extortion in a compromising position), etc.
Extortion is an Australian hardcore punk band from Perth, Western Australia. Formed in 2005, they are active in the Australian hardcore scene. They are heavily influenced by powerviolence bands such as Siege, Negative FX, No Comment and Infest however the band considers themselves a Hardcore band with a Powerviolence influence.
Usage examples of "extortion".
His chief accuser, who was one of the Consuls of the year, pressed the charges of extortion with great malice.
We deduce from the composition of the letter that it is extorsive in nature, and we noticed, of course, that a portion of the letter, probably including the extortion, has been excised.
He was still mouthing stories of torture, extortion, mayhem and murder through the crust of the very special apple pie that Sarge had cooked because the colonel considered it a delicacy.
He had given good proof of his manhood in the past by standing five-and-twenty years scapegoat for Ben Aboo between him and his people, making him rich by his extortions, keeping him safe in his seat, and thereby saving him from the wooden jellab which Abd er-Rahman, the Sultan, kept for Kaids that could not pay.
I have strook off the heads of Philpritz Faz, and Illarosh, and Lurmesh, and Gandassa, and Fax Fay Faz, that were the lords and governors here aforetime, abounding in all the bloody and crying sins, oppression, gluttony, idleness, cruelty, and extortion.
He was unapologetic about his early past, simply admitting he had been involved in smuggling, extortion, and had killed more than one man on behalf of the Mockers of Krondor.
We would rather throw the device on the open market, unpatented, than submit to this extortion.
This is a familiar tactic in the war against America: Critics generate hysteria based on false statistics and pseudoscience, and then use their claims to victimhood to exact real money based on false numbers, and this real extortion hurts real people.
Extortion from the sailors by the royal officials at Acapulco is strictly forbidden.
But there were definite advantages of Roman rule, which no Antiochene denied, although their comic actors and the slaves who sang at private entertainments mocked the Romans and invented accusations of injustice and extortion that were even more outrageous than the truth.
The behavioral analysis of threatening oral and written communications in extortions, bombings, and terrorist incidents is another viable application of artificial intelligence technology to real-world law enforcement problems.
The Sam Lerner case is a typical example of the type of strong arm extortion practiced by the various ethnic underworld gangs of that time against business people within their ethnic communities.
Mick Meo, was a prosperous East End gangster who served numerous jail terms for armed robbery, theft, fraud, tax-evasion, extortion with menaces, and affray.
But in this expedition or pilgrimage, his power was exercised in the administration of justice: he reformed the licentious polygamy of the Arabs, relieved the tributaries from extortion and cruelty, and chastised the luxury of the Saracens, by despoiling them of their rich silks, and dragging them on their faces in the dirt.
Our German commentator has collected the passages of the Theodosian Code which relate to this class of officers, and has shown that on account of their rapacity and extortion their office was subjected to a continual process of degradation.