baksheesh

noun

1. (uncountable, usually)In the Middle East or southwest Asia: a bribe or tip.

   “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!”

   “[…] the complex Oriental etiquette which under the name of “baksheesh” calls for lavish remuneration and bribes, rudely demanded but ever so graciously accepted by the natives in return for little or no services rendered.”

   “We see the immense, massive granite sarcophagi which had contained the embalmed mummies of the worshipped animals, coming out of this labyrinth, we pay our backsheesh, remount our donkeys and return to the automobile.”

   “Baksheesh (lubrication payment) is often the accepted manner of doing business in the Middle and Far East. However, one must be careful not to confuse ethics with the law.”

2. (slang, uncountable, usually)A minor wound that necessitates the evacuation of a soldier from the combat zone for medical treatment.

   “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.”

   “Clearly the preferred wound, it ranked in seriousness between a 'buckshee' or 'baksheesh', a slight would that merely took a man out of the line for a short time, and a 'N.Z. smack', which meant being invalided back to New Zealand, usually disabled for life.”

   “Some prayed for what was known as a 'blighty' wound or a 'backsheesh' wound, a wound that would be bad enough to have them sent home but not so bad that it would cripple them.”

verb

1. (ambitransitive)To bribe with a baksheesh.