SECRET

[adjective]The President escaped through a secret passage underneath the parliament building.When they are released, the hostages will be taken to a secret location to be reunited with their families.Hamilton became a secret smoker after he promised his parents he would give up cigarettes.We ought to keep these proposals secret from the chairman for the time being.This is top (= extremely) secret information.Do you think we'll manage to keep the party secret from Mum until her birthday?(humorous) A secret admirer is a person who likes another person but does not say so openly.Who sent you those flowers - have you got a secret admirer?A secret agent is a government employee whose job involves obtaining secret information about the governments of unfriendly foreign countries.The book has some interesting stories about the activities of spies and secret agents during that difficult period.A secret ballot is a method of voting in which each person writes their choice on a piece of paper so that no one else knows how they have voted.The election of the government is carried out by secret ballot.The secret police of a country is a police force which secretly gathers information about people who oppose the government and weakens such opposition, often using illegal or unfair methods.Hundreds of political prisoners have been tortured by the secret police.The secret service of a country is a government organization that is responsible for things such as the safety of important politicians and for preventing secret government and military information being discovered by possible enemy countries.A network of police informers and secret service agents has kept the government in touch with the growing demands for reform.A secret society is an organization which prevents people who are not members from finding out about its activities and customs.A secret weapon is something which will give you a clear advantage when you use it.His secret weapon is the information he could give to the authorities about who helped him and why.Mary was their secret weapon - she knew more about the system than anyone else.