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To extort is literally to wrench something out of someone. Extortion is a mainstay of organized crime. Just as the school bully extorts lunch money from the smaller kids in exchange for not beating them up, thugs extort "protection" money from business owners with threats of violence. But that's only one kind of extortion; a mobster might extort favors from a politician with threats of revealing some dark secret, just as you might extort a favor from a brother or sister by promising not to tell on them.
Examples of extort in a Sentence
Tom Madsen, Forbes, 2 Oct. 2024
In the 52-minute recording, Garcia discussed with Chavez a plan to extort a $100,000 payment from the Mongols motorcycle club in exchange for the Mexican Mafia’s protection behind bars.
—Matthew Ormseth, Los Angeles Times, 19 Sep. 2024
The woman Carruth failed to extort recorded his not-so-subtle solicitations and shared them with law enforcement, according to a federal indictment in the Eastern District of Arkansas.
—Michael Loria, USA TODAY, 4 Sep. 2024
Additionally, Whitehead attempted to extort another $5,000 from someone else and falsified bank documents for a $250,000 loan.
—Amber Corrine, VIBE.com, 6 Aug. 2024
See all Example Sentences for extort 
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'extort.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Extort.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/extort. Accessed 8 Oct. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
extort
verb
Legal Definition
extort
transitive verb
Latin extortus, past participle of extorquere to remove by twisting, obtain by force, from ex- out + torquere to twist
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