To force someone to give you money, information, or something else by using threats, violence, or misuse of power. It always involves unfair or illegal pressure.
From Latin *extorquere* ‘to wrench out’, from *ex-* (‘out’) and *torquere* (‘to twist’). The literal image is of twisting something out of someone’s hands.
Extortion is emotional or physical robbery: you’re not just taking, you’re twisting someone until they give in. That’s why even subtle threats—like ‘nice business you’ve got here…’—can count as extortion if they’re meant to wrench money out of fear.
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