clique

[kleek, klik] noun, verb, cliqued, cli·quing.
noun
1.
a small, exclusive group of people; coterie; set.
verb (used without object)
2.
Informal. to form, or associate in, a clique.
Origin:
1705–15; < French, apparently metaphorical use of Middle French clique latch, or noun derivative of cliquer to make noise, resound, imitative word parallel to click1

Related forms
clique·less, adjective
cli·quey, cli·quy, adjective
cli·quism, noun
sub·clique, noun

Can be confused: 1. claque, clique ; 2. click, clique.

Synonyms
1. See circle, ring1.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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to introduce subtleties into or argue subtly about.
to chew (food) slowly and thoroughly.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
clique (kliːk, klɪk) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
—n
a small, exclusive group of friends or associates
 
[C18: from French, perhaps from Old French: latch, from cliquer to click; suggestive of the necessity to exclude nonmembers]
 
'cliquish
 
—adj
 
'cliquishly
 
—adv
 
'cliquishness
 
—n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

clique
1711, from Fr. clique, from O.Fr. cliquer "to make a noise," echoic. Apparently this word was at one time treated as the equivalent of claque.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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FOLDOC
Computing Dictionary

clique definition

mathematics
A maximal totally connected subgraph. Given a graph with nodes N, a clique C is a subset of N where every node in C is directly connected to every other node in C (i.e. C is totally connected), and C contains all such nodes (C is maximal). In other words, a clique contains all, and only, those nodes which are directly connected to all other nodes in the clique.
[Is this correct?]
(1996-09-22)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © Denis Howe 2010 http://foldoc.org
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Example sentences
But there is little agreement on whether the group was a genuinely sinister
  collection of officers or merely a peculiar clique.
He even had his clique of dog-friends that he played with.
His team now gets together regularly for fun, as if they were a clique of
  college friends.
We're talking about a single clique of criminals here.
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