Meaning & use
protection racket
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountable
A criminal scheme in which gangsters demand money from businesses by threatening them with damage or violence.
Grammar: Countable: you can say 'a protection racket' or 'protection rackets'.
Patterns
- run a protection racket
- be involved in a protection racket
The gang ran a protection racket, taking a cut from every shop on the street.
Police arrested three men accused of operating a protection racket in the market district.
He refused to pay into the protection racket and his windows were smashed the next night.
Word forms
| plural | protection rackets |
|---|
Common combinations
- run a protection racket
- They ran a protection racket for years before anyone reported them.
- operate a protection racket
- The gang operated a protection racket targeting small restaurants.
- be involved in a protection racket
- Two local officials were involved in a protection racket.
- a protection racket targeting something
- Police uncovered a protection racket targeting construction firms.
Synonyms and how they differ
Word family
- protect verb
- To keep someone or something safe from harm.
- protection noun
- The act of keeping someone or something safe.
Commonly confused: protection racket or racket?
protection racket vs racket
Racket alone can mean a noisy din or a bat used in tennis; in this phrase it means an illegal business scheme.
Practice
The gang demanded money from local shopkeepers and threatened to burn their stores if they refused. The police described this as ______.
Choose one answer.
'Protection racket' is the fixed phrase for an illegal scheme that demands money in exchange for not causing harm. 'Protection scheme' and 'protection plan' sound like legal insurance or safety programs, so they do not fit the criminal context.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “protection racket”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.