- se|cure
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–adj.1. safe against loss, attack, escape, or danger: »
Keep the prisoner secure with his cell. This is a secure hiding place. Land in a growing city is a secure investment.
SYNONYM(S): See syn. under safe. (Cf. ↑safe)3. free from care, fear, or worry: »He hoped for a secure old age.
4. firmly fastened; not liable to break or fall: »The boards of this bridge do not look secure.
SYNONYM(S): fast, firm, stable, immovable.–v.t.1. to make safe; protect: »You cannot secure yourself against all risks and dangers. Every loan was secured by bonds or mortgages.
SYNONYM(S): guard, defend, shield.2. to make (something) sure or certain: »Their manner of building secured a certain air of solidity and grandeur (P. H. Hunter).
SYNONYM(S): assure, ensure.3. to make firm or fast: »Secure the locks on the windows. Having secured by boat, I took my gun and went on shore (Daniel Defoe).
SYNONYM(S): fasten, tie.4. to get by effort; obtain: »to secure the attention of an audience, to secure a hearing at court. We have secured our tickets for the school play.
SYNONYM(S): gain.5. to seize and confine: »They…formed a conspiracy to seize the ship and secure me (Jonathan Swift).
–v.i.to make oneself safe; be safe: »We must secure against the dangers of the coming storm.
╂[< Latin sēcūrus < sē- free from + cūra care. See etym. of doublets sure (Cf. ↑sure), sicker. (Cf. ↑sicker)]–se|cure´ly, adverb.–se|cure´ness, noun.–se|cur´er, noun.
Useful english dictionary. 2012.
