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Webster 1913 Edition

Secure

Se-cure′

,
Adj.
[L.
securus
; pref.
se-
without +
cura
care. See
Cure
care, and cf.
Sure
,
Adj.
]
1.
Free from fear, care, or anxiety; easy in mind; not feeling suspicion or distrust; confident.
But thou,
secure
of soul, unbent with woes.
Dryden.
2.
Overconfident; incautious; careless; – in a bad sense.
Macaulay.
3.
Confident in opinion; not entertaining, or not having reason to entertain, doubt; certain; sure; – commonly with of;
as,
secure
of a welcome
.
Confidence then bore thee on,
secure

Either to meet no danger, or to find
Matter of glorious trial.
Milton.
4.
Not exposed to danger; safe; – applied to persons and things, and followed by against or from.
“Secure from fortune’s blows.”
Dryden.
Syn. – Safe; undisturbed; easy; sure; certain; assured; confident; careless; heedless; inattentive.

Se-cure′

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Secured
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Securing
.]
1.
To make safe; to relieve from apprehensions of, or exposure to, danger; to guard; to protect.
I spread a cloud before the victor's sight,
Sustained the vanquished, and
secured
his flight.
Dryden.
2.
To put beyond hazard of losing or of not receiving; to make certain; to assure; to insure; – frequently with against or from, rarely with of;
as, to
secure
a creditor against loss; to
secure
a debt by a mortgage
.
It
secures
its possessor of eternal happiness.
T. Dick.
3.
To make fast; to close or confine effectually; to render incapable of getting loose or escaping;
as, to
secure
a prisoner; to
secure
a door, or the hatches of a ship
.
4.
To get possession of; to make one's self secure of; to acquire certainly;
as, to
secure
an estate
.
Secure arms
(Mil.)
,
a command and a position in the manual of arms, used in wet weather, the object being to guard the firearm from becoming wet. The piece is turned with the barrel to the front and grasped by the right hand at the lower band, the muzzle is dropped to the front, and the piece held with the guard under the right arm, the hand supported against the hip, and the thumb on the rammer.

Webster 1828 Edition

Secure

SECU'RE

,
Adj.
[L. securus.]
1. Free from danger of being taken by an enemy; that may resist assault or attack. Teh place is well fortified and very secure. Gibraltar is a secure fortress. In this sense, secure is followed by against or from; as secure against attack, or from an enemy.
2. Free from danger; safe; applied to persons; with from.
3. Free from fear or apprehension of danger; not alarmed; not disturbed by fear; confident of safety; hence, careless of the means of defense. Men are often most in danger when they feel most secure.
Confidence then bore thee on, secure

Definition 2024

secure

secure

English

Alternative forms

Adjective

secure ‎(comparative securer or more secure, superlative securest or most secure)

  1. Free from attack or danger; protected.
  2. Free from the danger of theft; safe.
  3. Free from the risk of eavesdropping, interception or discovery; secret.
  4. Free from anxiety or doubt; unafraid.
    • Dryden
      But thou, secure of soul, unbent with woes.
  5. Firm and not likely to fail; stable.
  6. Free from the risk of financial loss; reliable.
  7. Confident in opinion; not entertaining, or not having reason to entertain, doubt; certain; sure; commonly used with of.
    secure of a welcome
    • Milton
      Confidence then bore thee on, secure / Either to meet no danger, or to find / Matter of glorious trial.
  8. Overconfident; incautious; careless.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Macaulay to this entry?)

Antonyms

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Verb

secure ‎(third-person singular simple present secures, present participle securing, simple past and past participle secured)

  1. To make safe; to relieve from apprehensions of, or exposure to, danger; to guard; to protect.
    • Dryden
      I spread a cloud before the victor's sight, / Sustained the vanquished, and secured his flight.
  2. To put beyond hazard of losing or of not receiving; to make certain; to assure; frequently with against or from, or formerly with of.
    to secure a creditor against loss; to secure a debt by a mortgage
    • T. Dick
      It secures its possessor of eternal happiness.
  3. To make fast; to close or confine effectually; to render incapable of getting loose or escaping.
    to secure a prisoner; to secure a door, or the hatches of a ship
  4. To get possession of; to make oneself secure of; to acquire certainly.
    to secure an estate
    • 2014, Jamie Jackson, "Ángel di María says Manchester United were the ‘only club’ after Real", The Guardian, 26 August 2014:
      With the Argentinian secured United will step up their attempt to sign a midfielder and, possibly, a defender in the closing days of the transfer window. Juventus’s Arturo Vidal, Milan’s Nigel de Jong and Ajax’s Daley Blind, who is also a left-sided defensive player, are potential targets.
    "[Captain] was able to secure some good photographs of the fortress." (Flight, 1911, p. 766)
    • 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 3, in The Mirror and the Lamp:
      One saint's day in mid-term a certain newly appointed suffragan-bishop came to the school chapel, and there preached on “The Inner Life.”  He at once secured attention by his informal method, and when presently the coughing of Jarvis […] interrupted the sermon, he altogether captivated his audience with a remark about cough lozenges being cheap and easily procurable.

Translations

Anagrams

Italian

Adjective

secure

  1. Feminine plural form of securo

Latin

Noun

secūre

  1. ablative singular of secūris

References

Romanian

Alternative forms

  • săcure (archaic)

Etymology

From Latin secūris, secūrem. Compare Italian scure.

Noun

secure f ‎(plural securi)

  1. axe, hatchet
  2. battle axe, halberd

Declension

Synonyms

Etymology

From Latin securus ‎(“of persons, free from care, quiet, easy; in a bad sense, careless, reckless; of things, tranquil, also free from danger, safe, secure”), from se- ‎(“without”) + cura ‎(“care”); see cure. Cf. also the obsolete doublet sicker.

Pronunciation

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