The criminals extorted large sums of money from their victims. He was arrested for extorting bribes.

Recent Examples on the Web

Woke up to someone trying to extort me for money... Kelsey Stiegman, Seventeen, "Jeffree Star Claims Someone Tried to Extort Him For Money," 8 Sep. 2020

The state’s longtime failure to stem their proliferation has allowed inmates to use the devices to threaten and extort families of vulnerable prisoners. Dan Barry, New York Times, "‘Or I Will Stab You Right Now’: A Family’s Prison Extortion Nightmare," 8 Sep. 2020

Biden obviously wasn’t trying to blackmail or extort anyone. Matt Ford, The New Republic, "The Republicans’ Absurd Quest to Turn Biden Into Trump," 2 Sep. 2020

This was all seemingly in an attempt to extort personal information from her regarding another counterprotester. Sarah Midkiff, refinery29.com, "An “Antifa Hunter” Was Sentenced To Prison For Racist Threats & Election Interference," 1 Sep. 2020

One target was a woman whose child had died, a tragedy that McMahon tried to exploit to extort information from her about antifascists, prosecutors said. CBS News, "Florida man who calls himself "Antifa hunter" gets more than 3 years in prison for racist threats," 1 Sep. 2020

One target was a woman whose child had died, a tragedy that McMahon tried to exploit to extort information from her about antifascists, prosecutors said. Michael Kunzelman, USA TODAY, "‘Antifa hunter’ gets 3 years for racist threats against Black political candidate, activist," 1 Sep. 2020

One target was a woman whose child had died, a tragedy that McMahon tried to exploit to extort information from her about antifascists, prosecutors said. orlandosentinel.com, "‘Antifa hunter’ in Florida gets 3 years for online racist threats," 31 Aug. 2020

Falwell said his wife had an affair with Granda and claimed that Granda was now trying to extort the couple. Audrey Mcnamara, CBS News, "Liberty University accepts Jerry Falwell Jr.'s resignation amid scandal," 25 Aug. 2020

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'extort.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.