Sample sentences for EXTORTION

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Definition

obtaining something by threat

or:

charging unfair prices of someone who has little choice

She received an extortion note threatening to harm her children if she did not hand over $100,000.

Dishonest officials undermine faith in government through extortion of fees for performing their sworn duty.

extortion = obtaining something by threat (in this case, refusing to do their duty without payment — such as not granting a license needed to do business)

It isn't just drugs. Extortion, kidnapping for ransom, and protection rackets all help fund the growing Afghan insurgency.
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1919154,00.html -- Time Magazine, 2009
Such lawsuits amount to legal extortion.
To the eye it is fair enough, here; but seen in its integrity, under the sky, and by the daylight, it is a crumbling tower of waste, mismanagement, extortion, debt, mortgage, oppression, hunger, nakedness, and suffering.
Charles Dickens -- A Tale Of Two Cities
In the first place, because the confessions that they had made were obviously extorted and untrue.
George Orwell -- 1984

extorted = obtained by threat

"Ah, you are angry!" cried Morris, who wished immensely that he could extort some flash of passion from her mildness.
Henry James -- Washington Square
'And what was the repentance that was extorted from the hardness of her heart and the blackness of her depravity?
Charles Dickens -- Little Dorrit
He added it to his idea of his role; and he would use that authority later to extort some new concession.
V.S. Naipaul -- A Bend in the River
'Well, my dear friend,' said my aunt, after a pause, 'and you have really extorted the money back from him?'
Charles Dickens -- David Copperfield
Shall the Church be permitted to influence indefinitely with murder and extortion?
Dan Brown -- The Da Vinci Code
How is it possible to extort a meaning from all this jargon about 'devil's seats,'
Edgar Allan Poe -- The Gold-Bug
I'm sure you're aware there are only two ways to stop extortion, Chief Simpson.
J.D. Robb -- Naked in Death
He could always extort a day or two in class from them with the free weekly pizza.
Jerry Spinelli -- Maniac Magee
109:11 Let the extortioner catch all that he hath; and let the strangers spoil his labour.
The Bible -- Psalms
"You do well to boast of it," said Andrea, who, without becoming angry, as Caderousse feared, at this new extortion, quietly resigned the ring.
Alexandre Dumas -- The Count of Monte Cristo
Both gentlemen had a glance at Fanny, to see if a word of accordant praise could be extorted from her; yet both feeling that it could not be.
Jane Austen -- Mansfield Park
You shall extort bonds, foreclose mortgages, drive the merchants to bankruptcy—
Washington Irving -- The Devil and Tom Walker
They could protect themselves from equitable sacrifices or, in emergencies, to extort unreasonable indulgences.
Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, & John Jay -- The Federalist Papers — Modern English Edition 2
"I do refuse it," I replied; "and no torture shall ever extort a consent from me.
Mary Shelley -- Frankenstein

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