What's the difference between blackmail and extortion?

Blackmail


Definition:

  • (n.) A certain rate of money, corn, cattle, or other thing, anciently paid, in the north of England and south of Scotland, to certain men who were allied to robbers, or moss troopers, to be by them protected from pillage.
  • (n.) Payment of money exacted by means of intimidation; also, extortion of money from a person by threats of public accusation, exposure, or censure.
  • (n.) Black rent, or rent paid in corn, flesh, or the lowest coin, a opposed to "white rent", which paid in silver.
  • (v. t.) To extort money from by exciting fears of injury other than bodily harm, as injury to reputation, distress of mind, etc.; as, to blackmail a merchant by threatening to expose an alleged fraud.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Gough, as the degenerate black sheep of an English family trying to blackmail an American adulterer, would curl a long lip into a sneering smile, which became a characteristic of this fine actor's style.
  • (2) Galloway accused Shah of lying about how old she was when she claimed to have been “emotionally blackmailed” into marrying a cousin in Pakistan.
  • (3) Deschamps said: “It’s not that I don’t have confidence in Morgan, I know what he can do, but before making final decisions [on the Euro 2016 squad] it’s important that N’Golo comes with us to get more answers.” Benzema’s lawyer has previously protested his innocence, saying: “He played no part, I repeat no part, in any blackmail or attempted blackmail,” but Deschamps has passed up the opportunity to bring him back into the squad, perhaps feeling the political heat.
  • (4) In a statement, the committee denied Podliska’s accusations and said it “will not be blackmailed into a monetary settlement for a false allegation made by a properly terminated former employee”.
  • (5) It is not clear if Iran received any of these items but a confidential cable released by WikiLeaks appears to show that the head of Iran's drug control department blackmailed the UNODC's representative by suggesting that if the agency did not meet the wishes of Iran, the Islamic republic might "reconsider the scope of its own efforts against the traffickers".
  • (6) In Romania in October a man was subsequently charged with producing and distributing indecent images of children and blackmail.
  • (7) On the other hand, we are very generous, open, positive to UK citizens.” During the debate, MEPs repeatedly cited the rows over claims that May had tried to blackmail the EU by threatening to weaken security cooperation and the comments made by the former Tory leader, Michael Howard , suggesting the UK would go to war over Gibraltar.
  • (8) I will not give in to blackmail, but should I tell my sister of this latest development?
  • (9) This week we see that the ramifications of corporate prostitution continue to hurt her as juniors (looking at you, Harry Crane) use the knowledge of what happened to both blackmail the company and denigrate her.
  • (10) In 2008, Weatherup gave evidence at the trial of Ian Strachan and Sean McGuigan, two men jailed for surreptitiously recording then blackmailing a royal family member over gay sex claims and drug-taking.
  • (11) Bankers threatening to quit the City because of European bonus guidelines are committing "blackmail", a top European Union official said .
  • (12) There’s quite a hidden LGBT element in terms of revenge porn,” adds Noone, who says attackers will sometimes threaten to post pictures “outing” someone to family and friends unless blackmail demands are met.
  • (13) This prevents any investigation of the true background of those who his client claims are international blackmailers.
  • (14) David Cameron was accused on Sunday of blackmail and threats as his attempts to stop Jean-Claude Juncker becoming president of the European commission put him at the centre of a power struggle for control of the European Union.
  • (15) The rhetoric coming from Athens is as heated, where there is talk of European “blackmail” against the free will of Greek voters, as if Europe’s creditor nations don’t have voters of their own.
  • (16) The volte face was a result of Russian blackmail, the Lithuanian president's office said as senior officials in Brussels said Yanukovych was sacrificing the hopes and wishes of most of his countrymen on the altar of Russian money and contracts.
  • (17) We will not yield to blackmail from the president of the United States,” Patrick told reporters.
  • (18) In a previous judgment, the judge referred to suggestions of blackmail, but police have not apparently been involved in the civil case.
  • (19) The Big Brother star who is battling to overturn a high court gagging order brought by a Premier League footballer denied accusations that she attempted to blackmail the player.
  • (20) There were isolated portrayals of gay, lesbian and bisexual characters, but you had to look for them – Dirk Bogarde's 1961 film Victim, about a barrister taking on blackmailers; John Hurt as The Naked Civil Servant in 1975; and an episode of Crown Court a year later, about a gay transvestite entrapped by a policeman.

Extortion


Definition:

  • (n.) The act of extorting; the act or practice of wresting anything from a person by force, by threats, or by any undue exercise of power; undue exaction; overcharge.
  • (n.) The offense committed by an officer who corruptly claims and takes, as his fee, money, or other thing of value, that is not due, or more than is due, or before it is due.
  • (n.) That which is extorted or exacted by force.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) But with a civil war raging and no one to protect them, most migrants are at risk of kidnap, extortion and forced labour.
  • (2) As the gangs fragmented, many increasingly focused on extortion, kidnapping and human trafficking.
  • (3) The prize catch was his sister, Patrizia Messina Denaro, 43, accused of running the effort to channel extorted cash to fuel her brother's life on the run.
  • (4) And with the cartels come other nightmares: kidnapping, extortion, contract killers and people trafficking.
  • (5) "There are no social programmes or prevention projects and, OK, there are fewer murders, but delinquency, extortion and kidnappings are up.
  • (6) The government will need to continue with extra-judicial killings, commonly called crossfire, until terrorist activities and extortion are uprooted."
  • (7) They prey on the population, kidnapping and extorting in cahoots with criminal gangs, according to multiple complaints filed to the human rights commission.
  • (8) Mexican drug cartels have been waging an increasingly bloody war to control smuggling routes, the local drug market and extortion rackets, including shakedowns of migrants seeking to reach the United States.
  • (9) The official, who refused to be quoted by name, said Barankov was accused of summoning random people to his office, telling them they were being investigated and extorting bribes to close non-existent cases.
  • (10) But they are also brutal killers and methamphetamine dealers who extort everyone from big corporations to street vendors throughout Michoácan, according to residents and government officials.
  • (11) The latest film sees Bond travel from Mexico to the Sahara desert, Italy and the Austrian Alps in pursuit of SPECTRE – an acronym for Special Executive for Counter-Intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion – the sinister organisation intent on world domination.
  • (12) Sumo wrestling , already suffering a tarnished reputation, is facing its greatest scandal in years amid revelations of extortion, illegal gambling and ties with the criminal underworld.
  • (13) Despite an increase in police crackdowns, yakuza membership is steadily rising amid richer pickings from extortion, prostitution, drug smuggling, property deals and even stock market deals as Japan's economy emerges from its "lost decade" of recession.
  • (14) Officials from the defence ministry, run by Rajapaksa's brother, Gotabhaya, have said many of the abductions since the end of the conflict were of "underworld characters involved in organised crime, drug trade, extortion, kidnapping and such antisocial activities".
  • (15) Meanwhile, at the top of the tree, managers of the maquiladoras – faced with recession and competition from Asia – needed fewer workers, spewing their surplus humanity (which flocked here from all over Mexico) into the new narco-economy of "opportunities" for murder, extortion and kidnapping.
  • (16) He told the New York Times : "How is this not extortion?
  • (17) "From what I know of the Nigerian police, they look for every opportunity to extort money.
  • (18) With time, the focus of Shaltai-Boltai’s activities shifted from political statement to straight extortion.
  • (19) Philip Alston, the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings, warned in May last year that it risked simply creating better-trained criminals – or police who "would be able to extort more effectively".
  • (20) It said that some of the information that formed the basis of the allegations against it “has been gathered as a result of criminal activity including extortion”.