Cheka

American  

[che-kah] / ˈtʃɛ kɑ /

noun

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

---

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

---

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

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 • Sep. 11, 2023

The head of the Cheka, Felix Dzerzhinsky, brought 1,400 men into Ukraine to deal with unrest.

From Slate • Dec. 19, 2019

Her action coincided with a day honoring the agency’s employees, which falls on the anniversary of the creation of the Bolshevik secret police, the Cheka.

From Seattle Times • Dec. 21, 2017

The statue of Felix Dzerzhinsky, the founder of the first Soviet secret police force, the Cheka, was removed from Moscow's Lubyanka Square in 1991.

From BBC • Apr. 9, 2015

We could very easily have met this expedition and we were not quite assured that the soldiers would be so appreciative of our high-sounding phrases as were the members of the "Cheka."

From Beasts, Men and Gods by Ossendowski, Ferdinand