Definition of COLLUDE

Collude Has Latin Roots

Our English "lude" words (allude, collude, delude, elude, and prelude) are based on the Latin verb ludere, meaning "to play." Collude dates back to 1525 and combines ludere and the prefix col-, meaning "with" or "together." The verb is younger than the related noun collusion, which appeared sometime in the 14th century with the specific meaning "secret agreement or cooperation." Despite their playful history, collude and collusion have always suggested deceit or trickery rather than good-natured fun.

Examples of collude in a Sentence

The two companies had colluded to fix prices. accused of colluding to block the sale of the vacant land

Recent Examples on the Web

Newsletter Sign-up Russia has denied meddling in the election, and Mr. Trump has denied that members of his campaign colluded with Russia. — Aruna Viswanatha And Del Quentin Wilber, WSJ, "FBI’s Peter Strzok Denies Claims of Bias in Acrimonious House Hearing," 12 July 2018 The meeting between Putin and Trump comes as the U.S. president faces relentless pressure over Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russia meddling in the 2016 campaign and whether anyone close to Trump colluded in it. — Henry Meyer, Bloomberg.com, "Trump Gives Russia a Pass on Meddling as Putin Summit Scheduled," 28 June 2018 Finally, there’s the big question looming over all this: did Trump’s allies, in fact, collude with the Russian government to interfere with the 2016 election? — Andrew Prokop, Vox, "Why Trump’s inauguration money is a major part of Mueller’s Russia investigation," 5 July 2018 In Milan, weather once again colluded with man to produce Instagram transcendence. — New York Times, "Staying in the (Fashion) Moment," 27 June 2018 Seeing the way my state’s government is colluding with the fossil-fuel industry to build new fossil-fuel plants, cutting down our forest, and destroying the habitats of some of the area’s most magical species sickens me. — Andrea Stanley, Seventeen, "I'm Suing My State for a Cleaner Environment and Here's Why You Should Too," 11 July 2018 Late night hosts @StephenAtHome, @JimmyFallon and @ConanOBrien collude with each other on how to respond to the president. — Katie Kilkenny, The Hollywood Reporter, "Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Conan O'Brien Commiserate Over Trump's "No Talent' Late-Night Jab," 26 June 2018 The lawsuits don't specify how much the companies allegedly squeezed from consumers by colluding. — Michael Hiltzik, latimes.com, "The Bumble Bee tuna price-fixing case could point to the future of white-collar prosecutions," 24 May 2018 Stelter pressed Conway at least six times to answer this question: How does President Trump know that special counsel Robert Mueller has not found any evidence that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia during the 2016 election? — Rob Tornoe, Philly.com, "CNN hosts Brian Stelter, Jake Tapper face questions about Kellyanne Conway interviews," 21 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'collude.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.