palm

   1. an indication of bribery

   The hand of the recipient is upturned:

    You yourself Are much condemn'd to have an itching palm. (Shakespeare, Julius Caesar)

   Whence to anoint a palm, to bribe, and many punning terms for bribery such as palmistry, palm oil, soap, or grease:

    It would be hard to dispute that a little such palm-grease must, on occasion, have found a compliant hand. (Monsarrat, 1978)

   The recipient's palm may be slippery:

    ... birth and wedding certificates, confidential medical reports acquired by the usual greasing of slippery palms. (Rushdie, 1995)

   On receipt of the bribe or tip, the palm may be tickled:

    At length, by tickling the palm of his hand, he promised to be ready for me by six the next morning. (Emblen, 1970)

   An open palm indicates a desire to be bribed or excessively tipped:

    Its restaurants are opulent and noted for exorbitant prices and some of the world's worst food served with a condescending flourish and an open palm. (Whicker, 1982 — the name Palm Beach, the resort about which he was writing, had been chosen with considerable foresight)

   2. to cheat by prestidigitation

   The cards are concealed in the palm of the hand. Used figuratively of other forms of cheating and sharp practice, as in the phrase palm off with, to give (someone) something which is worthless or of less value than had been agreed.