Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Free from danger or attack.
  • adjective Free from risk of loss; safe.
  • adjective Free from the risk of being intercepted or listened to by unauthorized persons.
  • adjective Free from fear, anxiety, or doubt.
  • adjective Not likely to fail or give way; stable.
  • adjective Firmly fastened.
  • adjective Reliable; dependable.
  • adjective Assured; certain.
  • adjective Archaic Careless or overconfident.
  • transitive verb To guard from danger or risk of loss.
  • transitive verb To make firm or tight; fasten. synonym: fasten.
  • transitive verb To make certain; ensure.
  • transitive verb To guarantee payment of (a loan, for example).
  • transitive verb To guarantee payment to (a creditor).
  • transitive verb To get possession of; acquire.
  • transitive verb To capture or confine.
  • transitive verb To bring about; effect.
  • transitive verb To protect or ensure the privacy or secrecy of (a telephone line, for example).

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Free from care or fear; careless; dreading no evil; unsuspecting; hence, over-confident.
  • Free from apprehension or doubt; assured; certain; confident; sure: with of or an infinitive.
  • Free from danger; unexposed to danger; safe: frequently with against or from, and formerly of: as, secure against the attacks of the enemy.
  • In safe custody or keeping.
  • 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.
  • = Syn.3. See safe.
  • l. To make easy or careless; free from care, anxiety, or fear.
  • To make safe or secure; guard from danger; protect: as, a city secured by fortifications.
  • To make certain; assure; guarantee: sometimes with of: as, we were secured of his protection.
  • 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.
  • To make fast or firm: as, to secure a window; to secure the hatches of a ship.
  • To seize and confine; place in safe custody or keeping: as, to secure a prisoner.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • To plight: pledge; assure

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To make safe; to relieve from apprehensions of, or exposure to, danger; to guard; to protect.
  • transitive verb 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.
  • transitive verb To make fast; to close or confine effectually; to render incapable of getting loose or escaping.
  • transitive verb To get possession of; to make one's self secure of; to acquire certainly.
  • transitive verb (Mil.) a command and a position in the manual of arms, used in wet weather, the object being to guard the firearm from becoming wet. The piece is turned with the barrel to the front and grasped by the right hand at the lower band, the muzzle is dropped to the front, and the piece held with the guard under the right arm, the hand supported against the hip, and the thumb on the rammer.
  • adjective Free from fear, care, or anxiety; easy in mind; not feeling suspicion or distrust; confident.
  • adjective Overconfident; incautious; careless; -- in a bad sense.
  • adjective Confident in opinion; not entertaining, or not having reason to entertain, doubt; certain; sure; -- commonly with of.
  • adjective Not exposed to danger; safe; -- applied to persons and things, and followed by against or from.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Free from attack or danger; protected.
  • adjective Free from the danger of theft; safe.
  • adjective Free from the risk of eavesdropping, interception or discovery; secret.
  • adjective Free from anxiety or doubt; unafraid.
  • adjective Firm and not likely to fail; stable.
  • adjective Free from the risk of financial loss; reliable.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin sēcūrus : sē-, without; see s(w)e- in Indo-European roots + cūra, care; see cure.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin securus ("of persons, free from care, quiet, easy; in a bad sense, careless, reckless; of things, tranquil, also free from danger, safe, secure"), from se- ("without") + cura ("care"); see cure.

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Examples

  • He'll discuss his plan for what he calls a secure energy future.

    CNN Transcript Jul 11, 2008 2008

  • He'll discuss his plans for what he calls a secure energy future.

    CNN Transcript Jul 11, 2008 2008

  • He'll be discussing his plan for what he calls a secure energy future.

    CNN Transcript Jul 11, 2008 2008

  • He'll discuss his plan for what he calls a secure energy future.

    CNN Transcript Jul 11, 2008 2008

  • BLITZER: So when the national security director, Negroponte, says that there are secure hideouts in Pakistan, a lot of experts suggest that, in this Waziristan area, some of the tribal border areas in Pakistan, not far from Afghanistan, that you have effectively allowed not only Al Qaida, but the Taliban, to have what he calls secure hideouts.

    CNN Transcript Jan 14, 2007 2007

  • Marine helicopters arrived at the U.S. embassy in Beirut with a team of military personnel who are supposed to survey the situation from a security standpoint, as to see how they can establish what they call a secure and orderly withdrawal of nationals there.

    CNN Transcript Jul 16, 2006 2006

  • Marine helicopters arrived at the U.S. embassy in Beirut with a team of military personnel who are supposed to survey the situation from a security standpoint, as to see how they can establish what they call a secure and orderly withdrawal of nationals there.

    CNN Transcript Jul 16, 2006 2006

  • KING: A year ago, as we saw some of it in that piece, the vice president was the one who directed the government's response from a minute-by-minute basis back at the White House -- today, the vice president back in what we became so familiar with in the days after last September 11, what we call a secure and undisclosed location.

    CNN Transcript Sep 11, 2002 2002

  • I did just see a spokesperson, by the way, for the speaker of the House, Mr. Dennis Hastert, who tells me that Mr. Hastert and others leaders have been evacuated into what he called the secure location.

    CNN Transcript Sep 11, 2001 2001

  • When children are fortunate enough to have reasonably warm, consistent, and supportive parenting, they have what we call a secure base—a sanctuary where they can meet their dual needs for nurturance and validation.

    The Unmotivated Child Ph.D Natalie Rathvon 1996

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