as in off-the-record
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Recent Examples of back-channel
In July 1971, Henry Kissinger, then national security adviser to President Richard Nixon, arrived in Beijing on his famous secret mission — the back-channel visit that helped re-open the door between two countries that had little direct contact for more than two decades.
—
Xianda Huang,
The Conversation,
16 May 2026
The messiness of a 13-year scientific undertaking, the back-channel negotiations, the philosophical disagreements, the institutional maneuvering — none of that fits neatly into an obituary.
—
Zachary Utz,
STAT,
15 May 2026
The indictment alleges that after the NIH terminated a bat coronavirus grant to EcoHealth Alliance, Morens and co-conspirators pledged to help restore the grant and used back-channel communications to influence NIH funding decisions while deliberately avoiding transparency requirements.
—
Business Columnist,
Los Angeles Times,
30 Apr. 2026
At the center of the potential outreach is Vice President JD Vance, who is being considered for a return trip to Islamabad, where back-channel negotiations have quietly taken place.
—
Sara Cook,
CBS News,
17 Apr. 2026
Epstein, the records show, tried to initiate a back-channel meeting between the Saudi crown prince and Qatar’s ex-prime minister.
—
Miami Herald,
8 Apr. 2026
Elyssa Slotkin, Jeanne Shaheen, and Tim Kaine to back-channel conversations have been poo-poo’d by party leadership as unhelpful.
—
Philip Elliott,
Time,
18 Mar. 2026
Both the president’s team and the rule-of-law defenders launched back-channel negotiations with the capitalists.
—
Michael Scherer,
The Atlantic,
22 Jan. 2026
Pras was also accused of using this money to create a back-channel campaign to extradite the Chinese dissident Guo Wengui back to China from the United States.
—
Ryan Coleman,
Entertainment Weekly,
20 Nov. 2025
Xianda Huang,
The Conversation,
16 May 2026
The messiness of a 13-year scientific undertaking, the back-channel negotiations, the philosophical disagreements, the institutional maneuvering — none of that fits neatly into an obituary.
—
Zachary Utz,
STAT,
15 May 2026
The indictment alleges that after the NIH terminated a bat coronavirus grant to EcoHealth Alliance, Morens and co-conspirators pledged to help restore the grant and used back-channel communications to influence NIH funding decisions while deliberately avoiding transparency requirements.
—
Business Columnist,
Los Angeles Times,
30 Apr. 2026
At the center of the potential outreach is Vice President JD Vance, who is being considered for a return trip to Islamabad, where back-channel negotiations have quietly taken place.
—
Sara Cook,
CBS News,
17 Apr. 2026
Epstein, the records show, tried to initiate a back-channel meeting between the Saudi crown prince and Qatar’s ex-prime minister.
—
Miami Herald,
8 Apr. 2026
Elyssa Slotkin, Jeanne Shaheen, and Tim Kaine to back-channel conversations have been poo-poo’d by party leadership as unhelpful.
—
Philip Elliott,
Time,
18 Mar. 2026
Both the president’s team and the rule-of-law defenders launched back-channel negotiations with the capitalists.
—
Michael Scherer,
The Atlantic,
22 Jan. 2026
Pras was also accused of using this money to create a back-channel campaign to extradite the Chinese dissident Guo Wengui back to China from the United States.
—
Ryan Coleman,
Entertainment Weekly,
20 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for back-channel
Adjective
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Dialog has been described as Bilderberg (an off-the-record gathering of political and business elite) meets Silicon Valley salon.
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As late as last week, Weiss was still expected to speak at The Seminar, an off-the-record gathering of PR professionals in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Adjective
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Rubio, who is also Trump’s national security adviser, was one of three U.S. officials to participate in a closed-door meeting with the Russian delegation on Friday in Alaska.
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The revelation was made by House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer (R-KY) after Barr testified in a closed-door interview during the House Oversight Committee’s investigation of the federal government’s handling of Epstein’s case.
Adjective
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In Disclosure Day, cybersecurity expert Daniel Kellner (O’Connor) steals files confirming alien contact from the Wardex Corporation, an off-the-books non-governmental organization.
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But statistics fail to convey the humanity of yard sales—the caprice, whimsy, and high spirits, as well as the cunning, weirdness, and heartbreak, that charge and thicken the air when two people agree to perform an off-the-books monetary transaction.
Adjective
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Some may be announced publicly; others may happen in more clandestine ways.
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But clandestine flows aren’t the biggest factor behind the market calm.
Adjective
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These cybercriminals are like the Hollywood movie character Jason Bourne, a highly surreptitious operative who avoids detection through diversion, disguises, deflecting and blending into the environment.
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Related Stories Known to be a rebellious royal and a surreptitious anti-fascist, Maria José then moved to Portugal and soon left her husband.
Adjective
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After 1996, when the protease inhibitors were developed, the duty to warn continued to be an important standard when HIV status became more clinically covert.
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Authorities say the rogue drone operation led out of a former daycare in Georgia was a staging ground where multiple drones were launched on covert missions to deliver the contraband by air to 10 federal prisons at night.
Cite this Entry
“Back-channel.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/back-channel. Accessed 29 Jun. 2026.
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