Search the Dictionary

To take by force or violence; to seize; to exact; to extort. [R.] Commissions, which compel from each The sixth part of his substance. Shak.

nless this clause is inserted word for word; -- a precaution to guard against later wills extorted by violence, or obtained by suggestion.

as hunt the person whom they address to, dogging him from place to place, till they even extort an answer to their rude requests. South.

ng by force; a driving to compliance; as, the exaction to tribute or of obedience; hence, extortion. Take away your exactions from my people. Ezek. xlv. 9. Daily new exactions are devised. Shak. Illegal exactions of sheriffs and officials. Bancroft.

One who exacts or demands by authority or right; hence, an extortioner; also, one unreasonably severe in injunctions or demands. Jer. Taylor.

act of exasperating or the state of being exasperated; irritation; keen or bitter anger. Extorted from him by the exasperation of his spirits. South.

To press or squeeze out; as, to express the juice of grapes, or of apples; hence, to extort; to elicit. All the fruits out of which drink is expressed. Bacon. And th'idle breath all utterly expressed. Spenser. Halters and racks can not express from thee More than by deeds. B. Jonson.

ssing; the act of forcing out by pressure; as, the expression of juices or oils; also, of extorting or eliciting; as, a forcible expression of truth.

Serving or tending to extort. [R.] Johnson. -- Ex*tor"sive*ly, adv. [R.]

To impel, drive, wrest, extort, get, etc., by main strength or violence; -- with a following adverb, as along, away, from, into, through, out, etc. It stuck so fast, so deeply buried lay That scarce the victor forced the steel away. Dryden. To force the tyrant from his seat by war. Sahk. Ethelbert ordered that none sho…

ake progress; as, the sick man gains daily. Thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbors by extortion. Ezek. xxii. 12. Gaining twist, in rifled firearms, a twist of the grooves, which increases regularly from the breech to the muzzle. To gain on or upon. (a) To encroach on; as, the ocean gains on the land. (b) To obtain…

Disposed to gripe; extortionate.

One who gripes; an oppressor; an extortioner. Burton.

One who is rapacious or ravenous; an extortioner. The harpies about all pocket the pool. Goldsmith.

Not just; wrongful; iniquitous; culpable. [Obs.] Milton. Till the injurious Roman did extort This tribute from us, we were free. Shak.

ace; room; stead; -- used only in the phrase in lieu of, that is, instead of. The plan of extortion had been adopted in lieu of the scheme of confiscation. Burke.

Evil conduct; fraudulent practices; misbehavior, corruption, or extortion in office.

To extort; to draw from or forth by violence. [Obs.] Spenser.

An extortioner. See Poller. [Obs.] Bacon.

To extort from; to plunder; to strip. [Obs.] Which polls and pills the poor in piteous wise. Spenser.