HOW TO USE THE DICTIONARY
To look up an entry in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, use the search window above. For best results, after typing in the word, click on the “Search” button instead of using the “enter” key.
Some compound words (like bus rapid transit, dog whistle, or identity theft) don’t appear on the drop-down list when you type them in the search bar. For best results with compound words, place a quotation mark before the compound word in the search window.
THE USAGE PANEL
The Usage Panel is a group of nearly 200 prominent scholars, creative writers, journalists, diplomats, and others in occupations requiring mastery of language. Annual surveys have gauged the acceptability of particular usages and grammatical constructions.
AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY APP
The new American Heritage Dictionary app is now available for iOS and Android.
THE AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY BLOG
The articles in our blog examine new words, revised definitions, interesting images from the fifth edition, discussions of usage, and more.
INTERESTED IN DICTIONARIES?
Check out the Dictionary Society of North America at http://www.dictionarysociety.com
adj. se·cur·er, se·cur·est 1. Free from danger or attack: a secure fortress. 2. Free from risk of loss; safe: Her papers were secure in the vault. 3. Free from the risk of being intercepted or listened to by unauthorized persons: Only one telephone line in the embassy was secure. 4. Free from fear, anxiety, or doubt: felt secure in his old job. 5. a. Not likely to fail or give way; stable: a secure stepladder. b. Firmly fastened: a secure lock. 6. Reliable; dependable: secure investments. 7. Assured; certain: With three goals in the first period they had a secure victory, but somehow they lost. 8. Archaic Careless or overconfident. tr.v. se·cured, se·cur·ing, se·cures 1. To guard from danger or risk of loss: The troops secured the area before the civilians were allowed to return. 2. To make firm or tight; fasten. See Synonyms at fasten. 3. To make certain; ensure: The speaker could not secure the goodwill of the audience. 4. a. To guarantee payment of (a loan, for example). b. To guarantee payment to (a creditor). 5. To get possession of; acquire: secured a job. 6. To capture or confine: They secured the suspect in the squad car. 7. To bring about; effect: secured release of the hostages. 8. To protect or ensure the privacy or secrecy of (a telephone line, for example). [Latin sēcūrus : sē-, without; see s(w)e- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots + cūra, care; see CURE.] se·cura·ble adj. se·curely adv. se·curement n. se·cureness n. se·curer n. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
