Baksheesh
noun, verb, slang ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
- 1 In the Middle East or southwest Asia: a bribe or tip. uncountable, usually
"What an honour to think that I am to be elevated to the throne, and to bring the seat in Parliament as backsheesh to the sultan!"
- 2 a relatively small amount of money given for services rendered (as by a waiter) wordnet
- 3 A minor wound that necessitates the evacuation of a soldier from the combat zone for medical treatment. slang, uncountable, usually
"When we had made the boys as comfortable as possible and given them fags, of which our Padre seemed to have an inexhaustable^([sic]) supply, they were quite cheerful, and joked about “backsheesh” wounds."
- 1 To bribe with a baksheesh. ambitransitive
Example
More examples"Algerian Arab gendarmes live from Baksheesh, they are nevertheless very well paid by the Algerian assassin power."
Etymology
From Turkish bahşiş, from Persian بخشیش (baxšiš, “present; an honorary or pecuniary gratuity; drink-money”) or بخشش (baxšeš), from بخشیدن (baxšidan, “to give, grant, bestow”).
Related phrases
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.