CLOAK-AND-DAGGER

{adj.} Of or about spies and secret agents. * /It was a cloak-and-dagger story about some spies who tried to steal atomic secrets./ * /The book was written by a retired colonel who used to take part in cloak-and-dagger plots./ (From the wearing of cloaks and daggers by people in old adventure stories.) Compare: BLOOD AND THUNDER.