extorter

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ex·tort

(ĭk-stôrt′)

v. ex·tort·ed, ex·tort·ing, ex·torts

v.tr.

1. To obtain (something) by the criminal offense of extortion.

2. To obtain by coercion, intimidation, or psychological pressure: "[She] has no recourse but to model herself on her aunt in a fruitless effort to extort affection from her" (Claudia Nelson).

v.intr. Law

To commit the criminal offense of extortion: a conspiracy to extort.

[Latin extorquēre, extort-, to wrench out, extort : ex-, ex- + torquēre, to twist; see terk^w- in Indo-European roots.]

ex·tort′er n.

ex·tor′tive adj.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

References in periodicals archive ?

However, according to a police report posted on the General Commissariat of the National Police's website, Su said Eng was a known extorter of luxury wood traders.

A Siem Reap publisher arrested for shooting at suspected timber trader

With reliable supply in mind, one of the key things is also the diversification of supplies, for over-dependency on only one supplier poses a significantly larger additional risk of political and economic leverage being extorter on the consumer nation.

The Caspian basin: geopolitical dilemmas and geoeconomic opportunities

In this sense by threatening to enforce an already established law, the extorter can effectively enforce a variety of unwritten rules; since selective enforcement need not be limited to a single law each law that is selectively enforced provides government actors with an increasingly wider range of rent they can extract.

Selective enforcement and rent extraction

Despite his manifest shortcomings as an extorter of wealth on the high seas, his crew remains fiercely loyal to him.

Booty-licious fun

People such as vicious extorter Colin Morrison who, as we reveal today, charged 700,000 per cent interest - backing up his lending with extreme violence.