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Gestapo

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Ge⋅sta⋅po

  [guh-stah-poh; Ger. guh-shtah-poh]
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–noun
1. the German state secret police during the Nazi regime, organized in 1933 and notorious for its brutal methods and operations.
–adjective
2. (sometimes lowercase) of or resembling the Nazi Gestapo, esp. in the brutal suppression of opposition: The new regime is using gestapo tactics.
Origin:
< G Ge(heime) Sta(ats)po(lizei)
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Ge·sta·po   (gə-stä'pō, -shtä'-)   
n.  

  1. The German internal security police as organized under the Nazi regime, known for its terrorist methods directed against those suspected of treason or questionable loyalty.

  2. gestapo pl. ge·sta·pos A police organization that employs terroristic methods to control a populace.

adj.  

  1. Of, relating to, or characteristic of the German security police organized under the Nazi regime.

  2. gestapo Of, relating to, or characteristic of terroristic police methods or operations: gestapo tactics.


[German Ge(heime) Sta(ats)po(lizei), secret state police : geheim, secret + Staat, state + Polizei, police.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Cultural Dictionary

Gestapo [(guh-stah-poh, guh-shtah-poh)]

The secret police of the Third Reich in Germany. The Gestapo operated against Germans suspected of treason by using brutal interrogation and torture; they instilled widespread fear by their terrorist methods.

Note: “Gestapo tactics” in general are intimidating official procedures.
Note: Figuratively, any brutal secret police organization may be called a “gestapo.”
The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

Gestapo 
1934, from Ger. Gestapo, from "Geheime Staats-polizei," lit. "secret state police," set up by Hermann Göring in Prussia in 1933, extended to all Germany in January 1934.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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