Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary - blackmail

(blackmails, blackmailing, blackmailed) 1. Blackmail is the action of threatening to reveal a secret about someone, unless they do something you tell them to do, such as giving you money. It looks like the pictures were being used for blackmail... N-UNCOUNT 2. If you describe an action as emotional or moral blackmail, you disapprove of it because someone is using a person’s emotions or moral values to persuade them to do something against their will. The tactics employed can range from overt bullying to subtle emotional blackmail. N-UNCOUNT c darkgreen]disapproval 3. If one person blackmails another person, they use blackmail against them. The government insisted that it would not be blackmailed by violence... I thought he was trying to blackmail me into saying whatever he wanted. VERB: V n, V n into -ing/n, also V n with n • blackmailer (blackmailers) The nasty thing about a blackmailer is that his starting point is usually the truth. N-COUNT