baksheesh

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Afghans derisively call the routine bribes paid to expedite services "baksheesh" - the Persian word for tipping.

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Definitions (3)

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  1. noun A gratuity, tip, or bribe paid to expedite service, especially in some Near Eastern countries.

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Examples (50)

  • Colluding with Israel, the Bush administration and the Palestinian Authority in this aggression toward the Palestinians of Gaza, Mubarak reminds one of the Jews who served the Nazis as capos inside the ghettos of German controlled Europe during World War II, their baksheesh being that that they will be the last to be destroyed. —  Palestine Blogs aggregator
  • Starting Jan. 1, the pharmaceutical industry agreed to a voluntary moratorium on branded baksheesh such as Viagra pens, Zoloft soap dispensers, and Lipitor coffee mugs meant to foster awareness and, some would say, encourage doctors to prescribe more of the drugs.
  • Noone paid the phone repairman their Puja baksheesh. —  Random Thoughts of a Demented Mind
  • Spence-Jones 'baksheesh demands could be only the beginning of the Marlins' headaches. —  Field of Schemes
  • Now there's a new and even more insidious bit of baksheesh going around. —  the die is cast
 

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This word has been looked up 57 times.

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Etymologies (1)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Persian bakhshish, present, from Middle Persian bakhshishn, from bakhshīdan, bakhsh-, to give presents, from Avestan bakhsh-; see bhag- in Indo-European roots.
 

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