secure

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. adj. Free from danger or attack: a secure fortress.
2. adj. Free from risk of loss; safe: Her papers were secure in the vault.
3. adj. Free from the risk of being intercepted or listened to by unauthorized persons: Only one telephone line in the embassy was secure.
4. adj. Free from fear, anxiety, or doubt.
5. adj. Not likely to fail or give way; stable: a secure stepladder.
6. adj. Firmly fastened: a secure lock.
7. adj. Reliable; dependable: secure investments.
8. adj. Assured; certain: With three goals in the first period they had a secure victory, but somehow they lost.
9. adj. Archaic Careless or overconfident.
10. v. To guard from danger or risk of loss: The troops secured the area before the civilians were allowed to return.
11. v. To make firm or tight; fasten. See Synonyms at fasten.
12. v. To make certain; ensure: The speaker could not secure the goodwill of the audience.
13. v. To guarantee payment of (a loan, for example).
14. v. To guarantee payment to (a creditor).
15. v. To get possession of; acquire: secured a job.
16. v. To capture or confine: They secured the suspect in the squad car.
17. v. To bring about; effect: secured release of the hostages.
18. v. To protect or ensure the privacy or secrecy of (a telephone line, for example).

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. Free from care or fear; careless; dreading no evil; unsuspecting; hence, over-confident.
2. Free from apprehension or doubt; assured; certain; confident; sure: with of or an infinitive.
3. Free from danger; unexposed to danger; safe: frequently with against or from, and formerly of: as, secure against the attacks of the enemy.
4. In safe custody or keeping.
5. Of such firmness, stability, or strength as to insure safety, or preclude risk of failure or accident; stanch, firm, or stable, and fit for the purpose intended: as, to make a bridge secure; a secure foundation.
6. = Syn.3. See safe.
7. l. To make easy or careless; free from care, anxiety, or fear.
8. To make safe or secure; guard from danger; protect: as, a city secured by fortifications.
9. To make certain; assure; guarantee: sometimes with of: as, we were secured of his protection.
10. To make sure of payment, as by a bond, surety, etc.; warrant or guarantee against loss: as, to secure a debt by mortgage; to secure a creditor.
11. To make fast or firm: as, to secure a window; to secure the hatches of a ship.
12. To seize and confine; place in safe custody or keeping: as, to secure a prisoner.
13. In surgery, to seize and occlude by ligature or otherwise, as a vein or an artery, to prevent loss of blood during or as a consequence of an operation.
14. To get hold or possession of; make one's self master of; obtain; gain: as, to secure an estate for a small sum; to secure the attention of an audience; to secure a hearing at court.
15. To plight: pledge; assure.

Wiktionary

1. adj. Free from attack or danger; protected.
2. adj. Free from the danger of theft; safe.
3. adj. Free from the risk of eavesdropping, interception or discovery; secret.
4. adj. Free from anxiety or doubt; unafraid.
5. adj. Firm and not likely to fail; stable.
6. adj. Free from the risk of financial loss; reliable.
7. v. To make secure (in all the above senses).

GNU Webster's 1913

1. adj. Free from fear, care, or anxiety; easy in mind; not feeling suspicion or distrust; confident.
2. adj. Overconfident; incautious; careless; -- in a bad sense.
3. adj. Confident in opinion; not entertaining, or not having reason to entertain, doubt; certain; sure; -- commonly with of.
4. adj. Not exposed to danger; safe; -- applied to persons and things, and followed by against or from.
5. v. To make safe; to relieve from apprehensions of, or exposure to, danger; to guard; to protect.
6. v. To put beyond hazard of losing or of not receiving; to make certain; to assure; to insure; -- frequently with against or from, rarely with of.
7. v. To make fast; to close or confine effectually; to render incapable of getting loose or escaping.
8. v. To get possession of; to make one's self secure of; to acquire certainly.

WordNet 3.0

1. v. get by special effort
2. v. make certain of
3. v. fill or close tightly with or as if with a plug
4. adj. financially sound
5. adj. free from danger or risk
6. v. furnish with battens
7. adj. not likely to fail or give way
8. v. assure payment of
9. adj. immune to attack; incapable of being tampered with
10. adj. free from fear or doubt; easy in mind
11. v. cause to be firmly attached