secretly

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“
It was a mercy she did not see the hole in the grenier, through which I devoured her, daring for the first time to call her secretly--Eagle--the name that De Chaumont used with common freedom!

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Definitions (6)

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Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (3)

  1. In a secret or hidden manner; without the observation or knowledge of others; in secret; not openly. And thei dide all his commaundement so secretly that noon it perceyved, ne not the lady her-self. Merlin (E. E. T. S.), ii. 180. Now secretly with inward grief she pin'd. Addison.
  2. In secrecy, concealment, or retirement. Let her awhile be secretly kept in, And publish it that she is dead indeed. Shak., Much Ado, iv. 1. 205.
  3. In liturgics, in a low or inaudible voice. See ecphonesis, 2. Also secreto.

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Examples (50)

  • "We have made up our minds not to suffer our friendship to be broken by attempts to supplant each other secretly, and if at length one of us is so happy as to win your regard, the other will bow absolutely to your decision Question!" —  The Path to Honour
  • Iroquois messengers, hired for the purpose, carried wampum belts "underground"--that is, secretly--to such of the interior tribes as were disposed to listen with favor to the words of Corlaer, as they called the governor of New York In spite of their shortcomings, the English had one powerful attraction for all the tribes alike. —  A Half Century of Conflict - Volume I France and England in North America
  • "Now you shall tell me why you came away secretly, also why you desired this palaver with me. —  Bones Being Further Adventures in Mr. Commissioner Sanders' Country
  • The priests promised him good things to eat, and fine clothes, and freedom from labor; but the boy turned away, and said his prayers secretly--the Hebrew prayers As he grew older, severer tortures were invented for him; still he refused baptism. —  The Promised Land
  • And so the righteous triumph secretly, the lucky are amused, the strong are disgusted, the weak either upset or irritated with you according to the measure of their sincerity with themselves. —  Chance A Tale in Two Parts
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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

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Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (1)

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. from Middle English secretly; from secret + -ly. Cf. secrely.
 

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