extort
/ɪkˈstɔː(ɹ)t/ verb, adjective
Forms extorts extorting extorted
- verb (transitive) To take or seize from an unwilling person by physical force, menace, duress, torture, or any undue or illegal exercise of power or ingenuity. “to extort contributions from the vanquished”
- verb (transitive, law) To obtain by means of the offense of extortion.
- verb (transitive and intransitive, medicine, ophthalmology) To twist outwards.
- adjective (obsolete) Extorted; obtained by extortion.
Synonyms
wrench away to tear away to wring to exact squeeze rack gouge wring wring from
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin extortus, past participle of extorquere (“to twist or wrench out, to extort”); from ex (“out”) + -tort, from torqueō (“twist, turn”).
Webster’s 1913
- verb 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.
- verb To get by the offense of extortion. See Extortion, 2.
- verb To practice extortion. [Obs.] Spenser.
- participle Extorted. [Obs.] Spenser.
Etymology [L. extortus, p. p. of extorquere to twist or wrench out, to extort; ex out + torquere to turn about, twist. See Torsion.]
Etymology [L. extortus. p. p.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “extort”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details