secret
♦♦ se|cret /s'iːkrɪt/ (secrets)
1 [ADJ] ADJ n, v n ADJ, v-link ADJ
If something is secret, it is known about by only a small number of people, and is not told or shown to anyone else.
Soldiers have been training at a secret location...
The police have been trying to keep the documents secret.
see also top secret
● secretly [ADV] ADV with v, ADV adj/n
He wore a hidden microphone to secretly tape-record conversations.
2 [N-COUNT]
A secret is a fact that is known by only a small number of people, and is not told to anyone else.
I think he enjoyed keeping our love a secret...
3 [N-SING] the N, oft the N of n
If you say that a particular way of doing things is the secret of achieving something, you mean that it is the best or only way to achieve it.
The secret of success is honesty and fair dealing...
4 [N-COUNT] usu pl, oft with poss
Something's secrets are the things about it which have never been fully explained.
We have an opportunity now to really unlock the secrets of the universe...
5 [PHRASE] PHR after v
If you do something in secret, you do it without anyone else knowing.
Dan found out that I had been meeting my ex-boyfriend in secret.
6 [PHRASE] V inflects
If you say that someone can keep a secret, you mean that they can be trusted not to tell other people a secret that you have told them.
Tom was utterly indiscreet, and could never keep a secret.
7 [PHRASE] V inflects, PHR of n
If you make no secret of something, you tell others about it openly and clearly.
His wife made no secret of her hatred for the formal occasions...open se|cret (open secrets)
[N-COUNT]
If you refer to something as an open secret, you mean that it is supposed to be a secret, but many people know about it.
It's an open secret that the security service bugged telephones.se|cret agent (secret agents)
[N-COUNT]
A secret agent is a person who is employed by a government to find out the secrets of other governments.se|cret po|lice
[N-UNCOUNT] also the N
The secret police is a police force in some countries that works secretly and deals with political crimes committed against the government.se|cret ser|vice (secret services)
1 [N-COUNT]
A country's secret service is a secret government department whose job is to find out enemy secrets and to prevent its own government's secrets from being discovered.
2 [N-COUNT]
The secret service is the government department in the United States which protects the president. (AM)se|cret weap|on (secret weapons)
[N-COUNT]
Someone's secret weapon is a thing or person which they believe will help them achieve something and which other people do not know about.
Discipline was the new coach's secret weapon.top se|cret
[ADJ] usu ADJ n
Top secret information or activity is intended to be kept completely secret, for example in order to prevent a country's enemies from finding out about it.
The top secret documents had to do with the most advanced military equipment...trade se|cret (trade secrets)
1 [N-COUNT]
A trade secret is information that is known, used, and kept secret by a particular firm, for example about a method of production or a chemical process.
The nature of the polymer is currently a trade secret.
2 [N-COUNT]
A trade secret is a piece of knowledge that you have, especially about how to do something, that you are not willing to tell other people.
I'd rather not talk about it too much because I don't like giving trade secrets away.
1 [ADJ] ADJ n, v n ADJ, v-link ADJ
If something is secret, it is known about by only a small number of people, and is not told or shown to anyone else.
Soldiers have been training at a secret location...
The police have been trying to keep the documents secret.
see also top secret
● secretly [ADV] ADV with v, ADV adj/n
He wore a hidden microphone to secretly tape-record conversations.
2 [N-COUNT]
A secret is a fact that is known by only a small number of people, and is not told to anyone else.
I think he enjoyed keeping our love a secret...
3 [N-SING] the N, oft the N of n
If you say that a particular way of doing things is the secret of achieving something, you mean that it is the best or only way to achieve it.
The secret of success is honesty and fair dealing...
4 [N-COUNT] usu pl, oft with poss
Something's secrets are the things about it which have never been fully explained.
We have an opportunity now to really unlock the secrets of the universe...
5 [PHRASE] PHR after v
If you do something in secret, you do it without anyone else knowing.
Dan found out that I had been meeting my ex-boyfriend in secret.
6 [PHRASE] V inflects
If you say that someone can keep a secret, you mean that they can be trusted not to tell other people a secret that you have told them.
Tom was utterly indiscreet, and could never keep a secret.
7 [PHRASE] V inflects, PHR of n
If you make no secret of something, you tell others about it openly and clearly.
His wife made no secret of her hatred for the formal occasions...open se|cret (open secrets)
[N-COUNT]
If you refer to something as an open secret, you mean that it is supposed to be a secret, but many people know about it.
It's an open secret that the security service bugged telephones.se|cret agent (secret agents)
[N-COUNT]
A secret agent is a person who is employed by a government to find out the secrets of other governments.se|cret po|lice
[N-UNCOUNT] also the N
The secret police is a police force in some countries that works secretly and deals with political crimes committed against the government.se|cret ser|vice (secret services)
1 [N-COUNT]
A country's secret service is a secret government department whose job is to find out enemy secrets and to prevent its own government's secrets from being discovered.
2 [N-COUNT]
The secret service is the government department in the United States which protects the president. (AM)se|cret weap|on (secret weapons)
[N-COUNT]
Someone's secret weapon is a thing or person which they believe will help them achieve something and which other people do not know about.
Discipline was the new coach's secret weapon.top se|cret
[ADJ] usu ADJ n
Top secret information or activity is intended to be kept completely secret, for example in order to prevent a country's enemies from finding out about it.
The top secret documents had to do with the most advanced military equipment...trade se|cret (trade secrets)
1 [N-COUNT]
A trade secret is information that is known, used, and kept secret by a particular firm, for example about a method of production or a chemical process.
The nature of the polymer is currently a trade secret.
2 [N-COUNT]
A trade secret is a piece of knowledge that you have, especially about how to do something, that you are not willing to tell other people.
I'd rather not talk about it too much because I don't like giving trade secrets away.