[syn: extort, wring from]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Extort \Ex*tort"\, v. i.
To practice extortion. [Obs.] --Spenser.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Extort \Ex*tort"\, p. p. & a. [L. extortus. p. p.]
Extorted. [Obs.] --Spenser.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Extort \Ex*tort"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Extorted; p. pr. & vb.
n. Extorting.] [L. extortus, p. p. of extorquere to twist
or wrench out, to extort; ex out + torquere to turn about,
twist. See Torsion.]
1. To wrest from an unwilling person by physical force,
menace, duress, torture, or any undue or illegal exercise
of power or ingenuity; to wrench away (from); to tear
away; to wring (from); to exact; as, to extort
contributions from the vanquished; to extort confessions
of guilt; to extort a promise; to extort payment of a
debt.
[1913 Webster]
2. (Law) To get by the offense of extortion. See Extortion,
2.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
extort
v 1: obtain through intimidation
2: obtain by coercion or intimidation; "They extorted money from
the executive by threatening to reveal his past to the
company boss"; "They squeezed money from the owner of the
business by threatening him" [syn: extort, squeeze,
rack, gouge, wring]
3: get or cause to become in a difficult or laborious manner
[syn: extort, wring from]
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:
87 Moby Thesaurus words for "extort":
abstract, and, annex, appropriate, ask, ask for, badger, bag,
blackmail, bleed, boost, borrow, bully, call for, challenge, cheat,
claim, clamor for, coerce, cop, crib, cry for, defraud, demand,
embezzle, exact, extract, filch, fleece, force, force from, get,
gouge, hook, impose, indent, issue an ultimatum, levy,
levy blackmail, lift, make a demand, make off with, milk, nip,
obtain, order, order up, palm, pilfer, pinch, place an order,
poach, pry loose from, purloin, put in requisition, rend,
rend from, require, requisition, rip, rip from, run away with,
rustle, screw, scrounge, secure, shake down, shoplift, skin, snare,
snatch, snatch from, snitch, squeeze, steal, swindle, swipe, take,
tear from, thieve, walk off with, warn, wrench, wrench from, wrest,
wring, wring from