baksheesh bak-SHEESH, noun:
1. A gratuity, present or tip.
2. A gratuity, tip, or bribe paid to expedite service.
verb:
1. To give a tip.
James Stuart and Nicholas Revett painted and measured until 1753, when their mission was cut short by the arrival of plague and the fact that Stuart had punched the baksheesh-demanding British consul.
-- Sonia Van Gilder Cooke, "Defining Moment: An expedition to Athens sparks architecture's Greek revivalism," Financial Times of London
Dr. Pinsker promptly . . . sent eight thousand francs ... to pay the seller and to pay baksheesh, and to pay baksheesh upon the baksheesh, ad infinitum.
-- David Vital, The Origins of Zionism
Baksheesh originally was a common term for a tip in Near Eastern countries such as India and Egypt. The Persian bakhshish, "gift," derives from the verb bakhshidan, "to give."
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