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• n  a relatively small amount of money given for services rendered (as by a waiter)
• n  an award (as for meritorious service) given without claim or obligation

• The small gratuity offered by the Saudis of a modest increase in pumping had virtually no effect on the price of oil, which remained above $130 per bbl.
• Prosecutors are looking to see whether anyone on the government payroll, whether a congressman or a staffer, performed official acts in return for a bribe or gratuity.
• A Brooklyn jury found Thompson guilty of bribery and conspiracy and convicted Murphy of receiving an unlawful gratuity, conflict of interest and conspiracy.

• tip
• pourboire
• baksheesh
• bakshish
• bakshis
• backsheesh

News & Articles

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• Tip 15, 20 or 25 percent? Here, they strongly suggest zero
  In a city where taxicabs prompt passengers to tack on a 30 percent tip, the notion of turning down a gratuity sounds almost heretical. But one restaurant in Midtown Manhattan says it has taken that less-traveled path by instituting a no-tipping policy.At Sushi Yasuda, tips are not only no longer being sought, but they will also be returned if proffered, said one of the restaurant’s owners, Scott ...
  June 11, 2013 - MSNBC
• Don't Tip Your Waiter: Sushi Yasuda Eliminates Gratuity In Favor Of Higher Wages
  Etiquette experts may quibble over the standard gratuity percentages, but it is more or less universally understood that, yes, in the United States, waitstaff make their wages off tips, and if you don't leave something extra for service, you shouldn't be dining out in the first place. But one of the city's most celebrated sushi joints, Sushi Yasuda, will no longer accept tips , and instead ...
  June 8, 2013 - Gothamist
• Service Included: 11 Restaurants Where Tipping Isn’t Customary
  There's no need to break out your calculator app at Sushi Yasuda. Yesterday, Ryan Sutton reported that Sushi Yasuda is no longer accepting tips . It's not alone. So, is there a tipping backlash? Not really, but that doesn't mean plenty of restaurants (mostly high-end) aren't also trying to do away with tips. Eliminating optional gratuity — either by implementing an actual service fee or, as the ...
  June 7, 2013 - New York Magazine

Quotes

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• Brandon Routh in Fresno Bee (registration)
  Instead of being able to rely on gore or sexual gratuity or those kind of things, the episodes are more imaginative. And that's the kind of stuff that I like to see,Routh says.
• Marc Dann in Cincinnati Post
  The bonuses were "in essence a gift or gratuity to employees, who were planning to leave the office, for the past performance of their duties for which they already had been compensated," Dann said.
• David Caplan in Toronto Star
  I was raised on the idea that a gratuity is something optional, given for service rendered,says Caplan, the Liberal member for Don Valley East. "Customers need to have a say in what to tip."