kickback
pronunciation
How to pronounce kickback in British English:
UK [ˈkɪkbæk]
How to pronounce kickback in American English:
US [ˈkɪkˌbæk]
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- Noun:
- a commercial bribe paid by a seller to a purchasing agent in order to induce the agent to enter into the transaction
Word Origin
- kickback (n.)
- also kick-back, c. 1900 in various mechanical senses, from kick (v.) + back (adv.). By 1926 in a slang sense of "be forced to return pelf, pay back to victims," which was extended to illegal partial give-backs of government-set wages that were extorted from workers by employers. Hence sense of "illegal or improper payment" (1932).
Example
- 1. The bureaucrats collected a kickback .
- 2. They say local government officials are relying on these funds to provide jobs and economic growth , not to mention kickback opportunities .
- 3. Two years later , with the liberals crippled by a kickback scandal , the conservatives did well enough for mr harper to form a minority government .
- 4. His brother , who wielded influence over his administration , was indicted in july on kickback charges , joining other former presidential aides accused of corruption .
- 5. Many local governments have established science and technology funds to help struggling entrepreneurs in their districts . But the going rate for such funds now involves a kickback of about 30 per cent of the handout for the officials doling out the funds .