secret service

noun

Updated on: 24 Mar 2018

Definition of secret service

1 : a governmental service of a secret nature

2 capitalized both Ss : a division of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security chiefly in charge of stopping crimes against the nation's financial system and protecting the president and other national officials and visiting world leaders

See secret service defined for English-language learners

Recent Examples of secret service from the Web

In 1995, he was recruited by the British secret service MI6, and reportedly handed over details of up to 300 Russian agents working abroad.

— fred weir, The Christian Science Monitor, "Russia eyed in UK spy poisoning case. But why would the Kremlin do it?," 12 Mar. 2018
Also, Ivanka Trump is here with a swarm of secret service personnel.

— scott cacciola, New York Times, "John Shuster and the U.S. Curling Team Win First Gold Medal," 25 Feb. 2018
Cox plays Rachel Marron, a pop music superstar who enlists the help of a former secret service agent, Frank Farmer (Judson Mills), after a stalker sends her death threats.

— john monaghan, Detroit Free Press, "Canadian R&B singer Deborah Cox takes on Whitney Houston role in 'The Bodyguard'," 13 Jan. 2018
In this week’s premiere, the queen’s cousin, Mary, queen of Scots, gets caught by that first Elizabeth’s secret service. 10 p.m. Sunday, WHYY12.

— ellen gray, Philly.com, "TV picks: 'A.P. Bio,' Nas plays Kennedy Center,' 'Absentia,' and more," 26 Jan. 2018
Our new book, Sisters First: Stories from Our Wild and Wonderful Life, encompasses everything from growing up in Texas to third-wheel dating with the secret service in tow.

— Southern Living, "Learn About Barbara Bush and Jenna Bush Hager's Exciting New Project Celebrating Sisterhood," 8 Mar. 2017
According to the report, no one — not even secret service — was briefed on the photo shoot.

— christina coleman, Essence.com, "Omarosa Manigault Is Out At The White House And Twitter Can't Take It," 13 Dec. 2017
Omar is tight with the Pakistan secret service and becomes an agent for them; later he’s seen recruiting young men to fight for Islam.

— deborah young, The Hollywood Reporter, "'Omerta': Film Review | Mumbai 2017," 13 Nov. 2017
Hotel floors were locked down by the official secret service; the corridors were crammed with lines of petitioners and in one case a Wall Street boss gatecrashed the room in order to hug his idol.

— The Economist, "Who’s afraid of disruption?," 30 Sep. 2017

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

First Known Use of secret service

1706

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

NEW! Time Traveler

SECRET SERVICE Defined for English Language Learners

secret service

noun

Definition of secret service for English Language Learners

the Secret Service : a U.S. government department in charge of protecting elected leaders of the U.S. and visiting leaders
: a government department that protects a country's secrets and obtains secret information about other countries