cross palm with silver
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Related to cross palm with silver: cross-purposes, cross off
cross (one's) palm with silver
To pay someone, often as a bribe. Well, if you cross my palm with silver, I might remember a few details about the people you're asking about. I crossed her palm with silver to make sure she won't come after us.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2015 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
cross someone's palm with silver
Fig. to pay money to someone in payment for a service. (A fortune-teller might ask for a potential customer to cross her palm with silver. Used in that sense or jocularly for something like tipping a porter.) I crossed his palm with silver, but he still stood there. You will find that things happen much faster in hotels if you cross the staff's palms with silver fairly often.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.