collusion

play

noun col·lu·sion \kə-ˈlü-zhən\

Updated on: 26 Jul 2017

Definition of collusion

: secret agreement or cooperation especially for an illegal or deceitful purpose acting in collusion with the enemy

collusive

play \kə-ˈlü-siv, -ziv\ adjective

collusively

adverb

See collusion defined for English-language learners

See collusion defined for kids

Examples of collusion in a Sentence

The company was acting in collusion with manufacturers to inflate prices.
there was collusion between the two companies to fix prices

Recent Examples of collusion from the Web

Which is pretty brazen considering these people have spent the better part of a year telling us there was absolutely no collusion.

— jack moore, GQ, "Donald Trump's Lawyer's Excuse for Donald Trump Jr.'s Russia Meeting Makes No Sense," 17 July 2017
Both events garnered attention in light of the ongoing investigations into potential collusion between Trump's presidential campaign and the Russian government.

— alana abramson, Time, "Could Jared Kushner Actually Lose His Security Clearance? We Asked the Experts," 17 July 2017
Perceptions about the role of Russia in the 2016 election and possible collusion or cooperation with Trump campaign associates continue to be a drag on the president, though like many other questions, results show a clear partisan divide.

— scott clement, dan balz, Alaska Dispatch News, "Trump’s approval rating takes hit," 16 July 2017
The White House denied that there had been any collusion between Donald Trump’s election campaign and the Russian authorities, after e-mails surfaced of a meeting between Donald Trump junior and a Russian lawyer.

— The Economist, "Politics this week," 13 July 2017
Wildstein also handed over texts and emails that demonstrated collusion with his former supervisor, Bill Baroni, and Christie’s former deputy chief of staff, Bridget Kelly.

— aria bendix, The Atlantic, "‘Bridgegate’ Mastermind Avoids Prison Sentence," 12 July 2017
Scuttling the whole film-TV tax incentives thread would keep the focus more squarely on manipulated climate change and government-business collusion.

— by christine dolen, miamiherald, "Mad Cat’s ‘Firemen’ keeps the humor dark," 3 July 2017
The new reporting that has broken this weekend suggests instead that this collusion likely did take place.

— jonathan chait, Daily Intelligencer, "Now We Have a Roadmap to the Trump Campaign’s Collusion with Russia," 1 July 2017
The NCAA and schools should know all about enabling black markets, because the aforementioned collusion to cap compensation created an underground economy that has endured for decades in the student-athlete labor market for revenue sports.

— andy staples, SI.com, "The NCAA needs to start planning for a world where sports betting is widely legal," 30 June 2017

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

Origin and Etymology of collusion

Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin collusion-, collusio, from colludere —see collude

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 14th century

See Words from the same year

Financial Definition of COLLUSION

collusion

noun

What It Is

Collusion, also known as price rigging or price fixing, occurs when several individuals and/or businesses agree to set the price for something.

How It Works

For example, let’s assume that there are four major cable providers in the U.S. The four companies meet secretly and agree not to compete with one another for customers in certain geographic areas of the country. To accomplish this, they agree on which of the four providers will "get" each territory by offering the best price or service in that territory. The other three firms agree to not offer a lower price in that territory. In return, each of the three other firms get their own territory with the same agreement. By doing this, the four providers ensure that no other competitors will enter the markets, thereby preserving their profits and territories as a whole.

In the stock market, traders with inside information might collude on trades in order to benefit from the inside information.