<p><strong>Noun</strong></p><ul><li>any payment extorted by intimidation, as by threats of injurious revelations or accusations</li><li>the extortion of such payment: He confessed rather than suffer the dishonor of blackmail</li><li>a tribute formerly exacted in the north of England and in Scotland by freebooting chiefs for protection from pillage</li></ul><p><strong>Verb</strong></p><ul><li>(used with object)<ul><li>to extort money from (a person) by the use of threats</li><li>to force or coerce into a particular action, statement, etc.: The strikers claimed they were blackmailed into signing the new contract</li></ul></li></ul>