blood money

Học thuật
Thân thiện
Definition

Noun: 1. Money paid to a hired killer: Payment made to someone to commit murder. 2. A reward for information about a murderer: Money offered for information leading to the arrest or conviction of a killer. 3. Compensation paid to the family of a murdered person: Money paid, often as a fine or restitution, to the relatives of someone who has been killed.

Usage Examples
  • The gangster was arrested for offering to have his rival eliminated.
  • The police announced a substantial sum of for any tip that could solve the case.
  • In some historical legal systems, the perpetrator's family had to pay to the victim's family.
Advanced Usage
  • The term is often used figuratively to describe profit or gain that comes from suffering, tragedy, or unethical actions.
    • Critics accused the company of making blood money from the conflict.
Variants and Related Words
  • Bloodguilt (noun): The state of being guilty of murder or bloodshed.
  • Wergild (noun): A historical term, particularly in Old English and Germanic law, meaning the price set upon a person's life, paid as compensation by a murderer to the family of the victim; a specific type of blood money.
Synonyms
  • Hit money (specifically for payment to a killer).
  • Reward (specifically for information).
  • Weregild (historical synonym for compensation).
  • Reparation (a more general term for making amends).
Idioms and Phrases
  • To have blood money on one's hands: To be responsible for profiting from death or suffering.
    • He felt he had blood money on his hands after inheriting the fortune from his grandfather's dubious business.
Noun
  1. paid to a hired murderer
  2. a reward for information about a murderer
  3. compensation paid to the family of a murdered person