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View synonyms for security

security

[ si-kyoor-i-tee ]

noun

, plural se·cu·ri·ties.
  1. freedom from danger, risk, etc.; safety.
  2. freedom from care, anxiety, or doubt; well-founded confidence.

    Synonyms: positiveness, certainty, assurance

  3. something that secures or makes safe; protection; defense.

    Synonyms: safety, safeguard

  4. freedom from financial cares or from want:

    The insurance policy gave the family security.

  5. precautions taken to guard against crime, attack, sabotage, espionage, etc.:

    claims that security was lax at the embassy;

    the importance of computer security to prevent hackers from gaining access.

  6. a department or organization responsible for protection or safety:

    He called security when he spotted the intruder.

  7. protection or precautions taken against escape; custody:

    The dangerous criminal was placed under maximum security.

  8. an assurance; guarantee.
  9. Law.
    1. something given or deposited as surety for the fulfillment of a promise or an obligation, the payment of a debt, etc.
    2. one who becomes surety for another.
  10. an evidence of debt or of property, as a bond or a certificate of stock.
  11. Usually securities. stocks and bonds.
  12. Archaic. overconfidence; cockiness.


adjective

  1. of, relating to, or serving as security:

    The company has instituted stricter security measures.

security

/ sɪˈkjʊərɪtɪ /

noun

  1. the state of being secure
  2. assured freedom from poverty or want

    he needs the security of a permanent job

  3. a person or thing that secures, guarantees, etc
  4. precautions taken to ensure against theft, espionage, etc

    the security in the government offices was not very good

  5. often plural
    1. a certificate of creditorship or property carrying the right to receive interest or dividend, such as shares or bonds
    2. the financial asset represented by such a certificate
  6. the specific asset that a creditor can claim title to in the event of default on an obligation
  7. something given or pledged to secure the fulfilment of a promise or obligation
  8. a person who undertakes to fulfil another person's obligation
  9. the protection of data to ensure that only authorized personnel have access to computer files
  10. archaic.
    carelessness or overconfidence


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Other Words From

  • nonse·curi·ty noun plural nonsecurities
  • over·se·curi·ty noun
  • self-se·curi·ty noun
  • subse·curi·ty noun plural subsecurities

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Word History and Origins

Origin of security1

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English securytye, securite(e), from Latin sēcūritās; secure, -ity

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Idioms and Phrases

In addition to the idiom beginning with security , also see lull into (false sense of security) .

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Example Sentences

This is a blow against freedom of speech, we were told, by the likes of Homeland Security chief Jeh Johnson.

A Charlie Hebdo reporter said that security provision had been relaxed in the last month or so and the police car disappeared.

It opens with Huckabee's dramatic recollection of going through security at the airport.

Security officials told Agence France-Presse that the gas station manager said he had recognized the two men.

“There is a heavy security presence but nothing has changed,” agrees Father Javier.

This treacherous sort of calm, we thought, might forbode a storm, and we did not allow it to lull us into security.

He said nothing, however, to the friends he had in view to put up the money and that necessary security.

The promoters went his security and put up the cash into the bargain, and he went back to the publishing house victorious.

Her knowledge of native headgear was not extensive, so this measure of extra security did not surprise her.

This state of security proved a fortunate circumstance, as many of the poor women were at the same time in a state of pregnancy.

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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