collude
/kəˈl(j)uːd
/verb [no object]
Come to a secret understanding; conspire: the president accused his opponents of colluding with foreigners...
- Assorted deadbeats such as myself are apparently colluding in a conspiracy of silence about parenthood.
- The Fourth and Fifth Defendants colluded in conspiracy to defraud for their own personal gains.
- Even in a relatively open democracy, the state has a vested interest in the management of information and the civil service and successive governments collude to conceal secret crimes.
Synonyms
conspire, connive, intrigue, be hand in glove, plot, participate in a conspiracy, collaborate, scheme
informal be in cahoots
rare machinate, cabal, complot
Derivatives
colluder
- I grow impatient with the victims, the helpless, the colluders, the conformists, the irresponsible, and the pseudoinnocents.
- That is why, when peacekeepers are deployed to enforce the cease-fire, they are usually viewed by the party that has lost most in the conflict as colluders in aggression.
- We are helpless onlookers or colluders in all these happenings.
Origin
Early 16th century: from Latin colludere 'have a secret agreement', from col- 'together' + ludere 'to play'.