Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Separate; distinct.
  • To make or keep secret; hide; conceal; remove from observation or the knowledge of others: as, to secrete stolen goods; to secrete one's self.
  • In animal and vegetable physiology, to produce, prepare, or elaborate by the process of secretion—the product thus derived from the blood or sap being a substance not previously existing, the character of which depends upon the kind of organ which acts, or on the manner in which the secretory operation is carried on.
  • Synonyms Hide, etc. See conceal, and list under hide.
  • noun An obsolete form of secret.

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

  • transitive verb To deposit in a place of hiding; to hide; to conceal.
  • transitive verb (Physiol.) To separate from the blood and elaborate by the process of secretion; to elaborate and emit as a secretion. See Secretion.

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

  • verb physiology, transitive, etc. To extract a substance from blood, sap, or similar to produce and emit waste for excretion or for the fulfilling of a physiological function.
  • verb figurative uses
  • adjective obsolete, rare separated
  • verb transitive To conceal.
  • verb transitive With away, to steal.

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

  • verb generate and separate from cells or bodily fluids
  • verb place out of sight; keep secret

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

First attested in 1678: from the Latin participle sēcrētus ("[having been] separated").

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Alteration of verb sense of secret

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

First directly attested in 1728; attested as the past-participial adjective secreted in 1707: from Latin sēcrēt-, perfect passive participial stem of sēcernō ("I separate"); reinforced by back-formation from secretion; compare secern; cognate with the French sécréter and the Spanish secretar.

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Examples

  • My secrete is not teh weapon, but the pratice, if you plan on making a Rockie Mtn Shot, you must be able to shot accurate to 400 yds if you gonna kill your game.

    Our Most Popular Big-Game Rounds 2010

  • My secrete is not teh weapon, but the pratice, if you plan on making a Rockie Mtn Shot, you must be able to shot accurate to 400 yds if you gonna kill your game.

    Our Most Popular Big-Game Rounds 2010

  • My secrete is not teh weapon, but the pratice, if you plan on making a Rockie Mtn Shot, you must be able to shot accurate to 400 yds if you gonna kill your game.

    Our Most Popular Big-Game Rounds 2010

  • My secrete is not teh weapon, but the pratice, if you plan on making a Rockie Mtn Shot, you must be able to shot accurate to 400 yds if you gonna kill your game.

    Our Most Popular Big-Game Rounds 2010

  • How long befor you shot the episode did you know were going to be killed off and did you have to keep it a secrete from the other cast members.

    Ask DEGRASSI’S Ryan Cooley a Question | the TV addict 2007

  • I often managed, in our short interviews, to give them notes which Madame Élisabeth had contrived to secrete from the searches of the municipals; these notes usually related to information desired by Their Majesties.

    The Ruin of a Princess Cl 1912

  • We had for food the crusts and fragments of bread and meat which we had each managed to secrete from the native Prince's table, and once or twice we had some game which the gentlemen managed to knock down or snare, but the danger of lighting

    A Christmas Cake in Four Quarters Mary Anne 1871

  • You may recall the secrete nuclear program Saddam had prior to the first Gulf War, the secret program Quadalfi in Libya gave up recently when he was afraid the U.S. might send our Army his way, and the secret network for nuclear technology centered around the group from Pakistan which was making Libya's program possible.

    Nuclear Power Play Nick Anthis 2006

  • BS: It's more common to "secrete" things in one's orifices--although I hope one can keep that secret.

    Coming Apart at the Hems: Excessive Panting BikeSnobNYC 2009

  • The subsequent "secrete" bombing of Cambodia along the so called "Ho Chi Minh Trail" and then a full scaled invasion of Cambodia lead to additional death and suffering of hundreds and thousands of innocent Khmer.

    Ronnie Yimsut: Journey Into Light 2008

Comments

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  • Contronymic in the sense: hide vs. expose outwardly as a secretion.

    January 31, 2007