Meanings
present singular third person boodleizes · participle present boodleizing · participle past boodleized · past boodleized · alternative boodle-ize
- USobsoleteslangTo bribe.
"That's war, my girl," he retorted, and rubbed his mouth with the back of his hand. "What are you suggesting—that I boodle-ize it all for the boy? That's what war is …"
2013 March 12 [1968], Anton Myrer, chapter 1, in Once an Eagle, HarperCollins, →ISBN, Orchard1 more example
Every patriotic man in the state today should look with unfeigned approbation on Robert Vance Davidson, who […] has put the Standard Oil gang in Texas under a fine of over a million and a half dollars […] He fought millions of money in the hands of a set, which has never hesitated to boodleize, bribe and bulldoze its way where possible.
1908, "Cyclone" J[ames] H[arvey] Davis, chapter XLIX, in William Alexander Cocke, The Bailey Controversy in Texas, Cocke Company, A Stirring and Patriotic Address, page 974
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
From boodle (“illegally obtained money”) + -ize. First attested in 1883.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
boodleize. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/boodleize
“boodleize.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/boodleize. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “boodleize,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/boodleize.
Source: boodleize on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.