black·mail

noun

/ˈblækmeɪl/

[uncountable]

the crime of demanding money from a person by threatening to tell somebody else a secret about them勒索；敲诈Topics Crime and punishmentc1
Oxford Collocations Dictionary
adjective
- emotional
- moral
- economic
- …
blackmail + noun
- attempt
- threat
- plot
- …
the act of putting pressure on a person or a group to do something they do not want to do, for example by making threats or by making them feel guilty胁迫；威胁；恐吓
- emotional/moral blackmail情感上／道德上胁迫
- We can’t let them practise this emotional blackmail on us.我们不能让他们对我们施以这种情感上的胁迫。
Oxford Collocations Dictionary
adjective
- emotional
- moral
- economic
- …
blackmail + noun
- attempt
- threat
- plot
- …

Word Originmid 16th cent. (denoting protection money levied by Scottish chiefs): from black + obsolete mail ‘tribute, rent’, from Old Norse mál ‘speech, agreement’.

black·mail

verb

/ˈblækmeɪl/

Verb Forms

present simple I / you / we / they blackmail	/ˈblækmeɪl/ /ˈblækmeɪl/
he / she / it blackmails	/ˈblækmeɪlz/ /ˈblækmeɪlz/
past simple blackmailed	/ˈblækmeɪld/ /ˈblækmeɪld/
past participle blackmailed	/ˈblækmeɪld/ /ˈblækmeɪld/
-ing form blackmailing	/ˈblækmeɪlɪŋ/ /ˈblækmeɪlɪŋ/

to force somebody to give you money or do something for you by threatening them, for example by saying you will tell people a secret about them勒索；敲诈；要挟；胁迫
- blackmail somebody She blackmailed him for years by threatening to tell the newspapers about their affair.她以向报界公开他们的私情要挟了他很多年。
- blackmail somebody into doing something The president said he wouldn't be blackmailed into agreeing to the terrorists' demands.总统说他不会因受恐怖分子的威胁而答应他们的要求。
Extra Examples
- Don't let him emotionally blackmail you.不要让他在情感上胁迫你。
- She says she was virtually blackmailed into giving up her claim to the property.她说自己实际上是受人胁迫而放弃了财产要求。
- Voters were effectively blackmailed into voting ‘Yes’.投票者实际上是被胁迫而投了“赞成”票。
Topics Crime and punishmentc1
Oxford Collocations Dictionary
adverb
- effectively
- virtually
- emotionally
- …
verb + blackmail
- attempt to
- try to
preposition
- into
Word Originmid 16th cent. (denoting protection money levied by Scottish chiefs): from black + obsolete mail ‘tribute, rent’, from Old Norse mál ‘speech, agreement’.