Cabal - Definitions from Dictionary.com

8 results for: Cabal

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

ca·bal

Audio Help [kuh-bal] Pronunciation Key noun, verb, -balled, -bal·ling.

–noun

1.	a small group of secret plotters, as against a government or person in authority.

2.	the plots and schemes of such a group; intrigue.

3.	a clique, as in artistic, literary, or theatrical circles.

–verb (used without object)

4.	to form a cabal; intrigue; conspire; plot.

[Origin: 1610–20, for an earlier sense; earlier cabbal < ML cabbala. See cabala

]

—Related forms

ca·bal·ler, noun

—Synonyms 1. junta, faction, band, league, ring. 2. See conspiracy.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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Cabal

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

ca·bal Audio Help (kə-bāl', -bäl') Pronunciation Key
n.

A conspiratorial group of plotters or intriguers: "Espionage is quite precisely it—a cabal of powerful men, working secretly" (Frank Conroy).
A secret scheme or plot.

intr.v. ca·balled, ca·bal·ling, ca·bals
To form a cabal; conspire.

[French cabale, from Medieval Latin cabala; see kabbalah.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
cabal

1616, from Fr. cabal "intrigue, society," originally "mystical interpretation of the Old Testament," from M.L. cabbala (see cabbala). Popularized in Eng. 1673 as an acronym for five intriguing ministers of Charles II (Clifford, Arlington, Buckingham, Ashley, and Lauderdale).

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

cabal
noun
1.	a clique (often secret) that seeks power usually through intrigue
2.	a plot to carry out some harmful or illegal act (especially a political plot) [syn: conspiracy]
verb
1.	engage in plotting or enter into a conspiracy, swear together; "They conspired to overthrow the government" [syn: conspire]

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Cabal

Ca*bal"\ (k[.a]*b[a^]l"), n. [F. cabale cabal, cabala, LL. cabala cabala, fr. Heb. qabb[=a]l[=e]h reception, tradition, mysterious doctrine, fr. q[=a]bal to take or receive, in Pi["e]l qibbel to adopt (a doctrine).]

1. Tradition; occult doctrine. See Cabala [Obs.] --Hakewill.

2. A secret. [Obs.] "The measuring of the temple, a cabal found out but lately." --B. Jonson.

3. A number of persons united in some close design, usually to promote their private views and interests in church or state by intrigue; a secret association composed of a few designing persons; a junto.

Note: It so happend, by a whimsical coincidence, that in 1671 the cabinet consisted of five persons, the initial letters of whose names made up the word cabal; Clifford, Arlington, Buckingham, Ashley, and Lauderdale. --Macaulay.

4. The secret artifices or machinations of a few persons united in a close design; intrigue.

By cursed cabals of women. --Dryden.

Syn: Junto; intrigue; plot; combination; conspiracy.

Usage: Cabal, Combination, Faction. An association for some purpose considered to be bad is the idea common to these terms. A combination is an organized union of individuals for mutual support, in urging their demands or resisting the claims of others, and may be good or bad according to circumstances; as, a combiniation of workmen or of employers to effect or to prevent a change in prices. A cabal is a secret association of a few individuals who seek by cunning practices to obtain office and power. A faction is a larger body than a cabal, employed for selfish purposes in agitating the community and working up an excitement with a view to change the existing order of things. "Selfishness, insubordination, and laxity of morals give rise to combinations, which belong particularly to the lower orders of society. Restless, jealous, ambitious, and little minds are ever forming cabals. Factions belong especially to free governments, and are raised by busy and turbulent spirits for selfish purposes". --Crabb.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Cabal

1. Tradition; occult doctrine. See Cabala [Obs.] --Hakewill.

2. A secret. [Obs.] "The measuring of the temple, a cabal found out but lately." --B. Jonson.

4. The secret artifices or machinations of a few persons united in a close design; intrigue.

By cursed cabals of women. --Dryden.

Syn: Junto; intrigue; plot; combination; conspiracy.