EXTORT

extort, wring from

(verb) get or cause to become in a difficult or laborious manner

extort, squeeze, rack, gouge, wring

(verb) 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”

extort

(verb) obtain through intimidation

Source: WordNet® 3.1

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Etymology

Verb

extort (third-person singular simple present extorts, present participle extorting, simple past and past participle extorted)

(transitive) To take or seize off an unwilling person by physical force, menace, duress, torture, or any undue or illegal exercise of power or ingenuity

(transitive, legal) To obtain by means of the offense of extortion.

(transitive and intransitive, medicine, ophthalmology) To twist outwards.

Synonyms

• (take by force): wrench away (from); to tear away; to wring (from); to exact

Adjective

extort (not comparable)

(obsolete) Wrongfully obtained.

Source: Wiktionary

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Ex*tort", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Extorted; p. pr. & vb. n. Extorting.] Etym: [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.

2. (Law)

Definition: To get by the offense of extortion. See Extortion, 2.

Ex*tort", v. i.

Definition: To practice extortion. [Obs.] Spenser.

Ex*tort", p. p. & a. Etym: [L. extortus. p. p.]

Definition: Extorted. [Obs.] Spenser.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition

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