/ kəˈnaɪv; NAmE / verb [ v ] ( disapproving )
1.
connive at / in sth to seem to allow sth wrong to happen :
She knew that if she said nothing she would be conniving in an injustice.
2.
connive (with sb) (to do sth) to work together with sb to do sth wrong or illegal
SYN conspire :
The government was accused of having connived with the security forces to permit murder.
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WORD ORIGIN
early 17th cent.: from French conniver or Latin connivere shut the eyes (to), from con- together + an unrecorded word related to nictare to wink.