bachshish

Noun

baksheesh (usually uncountable, plural baksheeshes)

1. (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!1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, “Temptation”, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume II, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1850, →OCLC, page 265

   Synonyms:

   grease payment, lubrication payment

2. (slang, 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.1981, The Kia Ora Coo-ee: The Magazine for the ANZACS in the Middle East, 1918, →ISBN

   Synonyms:

   buckshee, Blighty one

See all 3 meanings of baksheesh