Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The German internal security police as organized under the Nazi regime, known for its terrorist methods directed against those suspected of treason or questionable loyalty.
  • noun A police organization that employs terroristic methods to control a populace.
  • adjective Of, relating to, or characteristic of the German security police organized under the Nazi regime.
  • adjective Of, relating to, or characteristic of terroristic police methods or operations.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • proper noun The secret police of the Nazi party in the Second World War

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the secret state police in Nazi Germany; known for its terrorist methods

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[German Ge(heime) Sta(ats)po(lizei), secret state police : geheim, secret + Staat, state + Polizei, police.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Borrowing from German Gestapo.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word Gestapo.

Examples

  • The word "Gestapo" is short for the German words "Geheime Staatspolizei", which is translated "secret police of the state".

    Conservapedia - Recent changes [en] 2010

  • The word "Gestapo" is short for the German words "Geheime Staatspolizei", which is translated "secret police of the state".

    Conservapedia - Recent changes [en] 2009

  • And for the second time in a week open borders advocates used the term Gestapo-like to describe federal law enforcement agents.

    CNN Transcript Mar 3, 2008 2008

  • The word Gestapo frightened me more than my injuries.

    i will plant you a lilac tree LAURA HILLMAN 2003

  • The word Gestapo frightened me more than my injuries.

    i will plant you a lilac tree LAURA HILLMAN 2003

  • Sanders later said he was speaking for himself, but didn't back down on using the term Gestapo that is associated with Adolf Hitler's Nazi Germany.

    Local News from Gadsden Times 2010

  • Sanders later said he was speaking for himself, but didn't back down on using the term Gestapo that is associated with Adolf Hitler's Nazi Germany.

    Local News from Gadsden Times 2010

  • Sanders later said he was speaking for himself, but didn't back down on using the term Gestapo that is associated with Adolf Hitler's Nazi Germany.

    Local News from Gadsden Times 2010

  • Some of you recoil at the term Gestapo but I think that that is apropos for what is being talked about here.

    Latest Articles Examinaer 2008

  • Youlus, an Orthodox rabbi and sofer, or Torah scribe, told his well-intentioned but gullible marks, among other things, that he had found two such Torah scrolls buried in what he called a "Gestapo body bag" in a Ukrainian mass-grave of murdered Jews.

    Menachem Rosensaft: Demanding Accountability In The 'Holocaust Torah Scrolls' Scam Menachem Rosensaft 2012

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.