Cheka

American  

[che-kah] / ˈtʃɛ kɑ /

noun

1. (in the Soviet Union) the state secret-police organization (1917–22), succeeded by the GPU.

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Cheka British  

/ ˈtʃɛka /

noun

1. Russian history the secret police set up in 1917 by the Bolshevik government: reorganized in the Soviet Union in Dec 1922 as the GPU

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Other Word Forms

• Chekist noun

Etymology

Origin of Cheka

1920–25; < Russian Cheká, Vecheká, names of the initial letters of Vserossíĭskaya chrezvycháĭnaya Kommíssiya ( po bor'bé s kontrarevolyútsieĭ, spekulyátsieĭ i sabotázhem ) All-Russian Extraordinary Commission (for the Struggle against Counterrevolution, Speculation and Sabotage)

Example Sentences

From its earliest days, the Soviet Union’s intelligence services — whether known as the Cheka or by the names of any of its successor agencies like the KGB — kept the government in power by pursuing its opponents no matter where they lived.

From Seattle Times

Perhaps the Cheka’s most successful undertaking in the 1920s was “Operation Trust,” which focused on Russians living abroad who opposed the regime, he said.

From Seattle Times

Such is the enduring influence of "Chekist Number One" that even in modern Russia, some spies still call themselves Chekists - after the Cheka he founded.

From Reuters

Primate zoo keeper Cheka Heihn described Rudi as shy at first, but playful once zoo staff got to know him.

From Reuters

While the Ukrainian government got to work in the physical realm—such as using a crane to remove a statue of Felix Dzerzhinsky, founder of the Cheka, the Bolshevik secret police—others came into compliance in the digital.

From Slate