as in exchange
a giving or taking of one thing of value in return for another
in politics nobody does something for nothing: there's always a quid pro quo involved
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Recent Examples of quid pro quo
He has been accused of agreeing to a quid pro quo with the Trump administration: With the Justice Department moving to drop his five-count federal indictment, Mr. Adams would be free to help the president enforce his immigration policies.
—
Emma G. Fitzsimmons, New York Times, 24 Mar. 2025
Though Adams has denied any quid pro quo, holding up Patel’s book further associates the mayor with Trump and his associates.
—Josephine Stratman, New York Daily News, 2 Apr. 2025
Adams repeatedly waved off accusations of engaging in a quid pro quo arrangement with the Trump administration to drop federal charges in exchange for helping Trump’s immigration crackdown in New York City.
—Elizabeth Crisp, The Hill, 2 Apr. 2025
The move looked to many like a quid pro quo: legal favors in return for Adams’s coöperation with Trump’s crackdown on immigrants.
—Eric Lach, New Yorker, 5 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for quid pro quo
Emma G. Fitzsimmons, New York Times, 24 Mar. 2025
Though Adams has denied any quid pro quo, holding up Patel’s book further associates the mayor with Trump and his associates.
—Josephine Stratman, New York Daily News, 2 Apr. 2025
Adams repeatedly waved off accusations of engaging in a quid pro quo arrangement with the Trump administration to drop federal charges in exchange for helping Trump’s immigration crackdown in New York City.
—Elizabeth Crisp, The Hill, 2 Apr. 2025
The move looked to many like a quid pro quo: legal favors in return for Adams’s coöperation with Trump’s crackdown on immigrants.
—Eric Lach, New Yorker, 5 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for quid pro quo
Recent Examples of Synonyms for quid pro quo
exchange
Noun
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On Thursday, Lurie announced on social media that cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase is opening an office in San Francisco after leaving the city four years ago.—
Wendy Lee,
Los Angeles Times,
1 June 2025
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The very principle of financialization rules even the most mundane exchange of objects in the same manner that the most banal exchange of economic investment and speculation regulates the sign of spiritual autonomy and utopian aspirations that abstraction had initially promised.—
Benjamin H. D. Buchloh,
Artforum,
1 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Quid pro quo.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/quid%20pro%20quo. Accessed 5 Jun. 2025.
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