Cheka

[ che-kah ]

/ ˈtʃɛ kɑ /

noun

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

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)

Related forms

Che·kist, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for cheka

And so we talked the members of the "Cheka" round to everything that we wanted.
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
In every Siberian "Cheka" I could have had this end so joyfully accorded me.
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 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

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

Word Origin for 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