Cheka

[ che-kah ]

noun

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

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)

Other words from Cheka

Chekist, noun

Compare KGB.

Words Nearby Cheka

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use Cheka in a sentence

In the building of the Soviet, where we came to exchange our horses, there was being held a meeting of the "Cheka."
Beasts, Men and Gods | Ferdinand Ossendowski
And so we talked the members of the "Cheka" round to everything that we wanted.
Beasts, Men and Gods | Ferdinand Ossendowski
He is the commissar of the 'Cheka' and she is the agent of this establishment.
Beasts, Men and Gods | Ferdinand Ossendowski
In every Siberian "Cheka" I could have had this end so joyfully accorded me.
Beasts, Men and Gods | Ferdinand Ossendowski
They were the results of the bloody work of the "Cheka" at Minnusinsk.
Beasts, Men and Gods | Ferdinand Ossendowski

British Dictionary definitions for Cheka

Cheka

/ Russian (ˈtʃɛka) /

noun

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

Origin of Cheka

C20: from Russian, acronym of Chrezvychainaya Komissiya Extraordinary Commission (to combat Counter-Revolution)

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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