Cheka
[che-kah]
- (in the Soviet Union) the state secret-police organization (1917–22), succeeded by the GPU.
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Compare KGB.
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)
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for cheka
Historical Examples
And so we talked the members of the "Cheka" round to everything that we wanted.
Beasts, Men and GodsFerdinand Ossendowski
He is the commissar of the 'Cheka' and she is the agent of this establishment.
Beasts, Men and GodsFerdinand Ossendowski
In every Siberian "Cheka" I could have had this end so joyfully accorded me.
Beasts, Men and GodsFerdinand Ossendowski
They were the results of the bloody work of the "Cheka" at Minnusinsk.
Beasts, Men and GodsFerdinand Ossendowski
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 GodsFerdinand Ossendowski
Cheka
- 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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Word Origin
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
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Word Origin and History for cheka
Cheka
early Soviet secret police, 1921, from Russian initials of Chrezvychainaya Komissiya "Extraordinary Commission (for Combating Counter-Revolution);" set up 1917, superseded 1922 by G.P.U.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper