noun, verb ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   The threatened exposure of state secrets in order to manipulate legal proceedings. US, uncountable
2. 2
   Email that is not technically spam (since the user agreed to receive it) but which is unwanted, such as newsletters after making a purchase. Internet, uncountable

Verb

1. 1
   To threaten exposure of state secrets in order to manipulate legal proceedings. US

Etymology

From gray + mail: in the threat sense, by analogy with blackmail.

Related phrases

state secret

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.