cabal

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

• noun A conspiratorial group of plotters or intriguers.
• noun A secret scheme or plot.
• intransitive verb To form a cabal; conspire.

from The Century Dictionary.

• noun A horse.
• To form a cabal; intrigue conjointly; unite in secret artifices to effect some design.
• noun The cabala (which see).
• noun A secret.
• noun Conjoint intrigue; secret artifices of a few persons united in some design: as, “curs'd cabals of women,”
• noun A number of persons united in some close design, usually to promote their private views in church or state by intrigue; a junto.
• noun Synonyms Combination, Party, Faction, Cabal, Camarilla, Junto. Combination is the most general of these words, but it expresses least of permanence in organization; it often denotes the union for special ends of individuals or parties otherwise antagonistic: as, the Democrats and Greenbackers entered into a combination to secure the election. A party is strictly a more close and permanent union of individuals, organized to promote certain principles or common interests which they consider of fundamental importance: as, the Low Church party, the Republican party; but the term is more loosely used where organization is wanting: as, the Free-trade party. Combination and party may express that which is entirely reputable; the other words are chiefly unfavorable in their signification. A faction is commonly a section of a party; it is generally a comparatively small number of individuals, whose principles and objects are often of a captious, frivolous, or selfish nature, but advocated so persistently as to be annoying, and with so little regard to the general interest as sometimes to be dangerous. Cabal and junto express a union less comprehensive than party or even faction; the intrigues of a cabal or junto are usually conducted mainly for the personal aggrandizement of its members. Junto has almost entirely given place to cabal in modern use. A camarilla is a more or less united body of secret counselors of a ruler, acting generally in opposition to his official advisers, and constituting a “power behind the throne.”

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• intransitive verb To unite in a small party to promote private views and interests by intrigue; to intrigue; to plot.
• noun obsolete Tradition; occult doctrine. See cabala.
• noun obsolete A secret.
• noun A number of persons united in some close design, usually to promote their private views and interests in church or state by intrigue; a secret association composed of a few designing persons; a junto.
• noun The secret artifices or machinations of a few persons united in a close design; intrigue.

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

• noun A usually secret exclusive organization of individuals gathered for a political purpose.
• noun A secret plot.
• noun An identifiable group within the tradition of Discordianism.
• verb To engage in the activities of a cabal

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

• noun a plot to carry out some harmful or illegal act (especially a political plot)
• verb engage in plotting or enter into a conspiracy, swear together
• noun a clique (often secret) that seeks power usually through intrigue