colluding

American  

[kuh-loo-ding] / kəˈlu dɪŋ /

adjective

1. working together secretively with fraudulent or harmful intent.

   If the colluding witnesses have not agreed on the details being asked about, each witness will invent something.

   By acting like a monopoly, the colluding firms can set a monopoly price and generate monopoly profits.

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noun

1. the act or process of working together secretively with fraudulent or harmful intent.

   Both agencies took pains to be subtle and not make the colluding too obvious.

Etymology

Origin of colluding

First recorded in 1605–15; collud(e) ( def. ) + -ing ¹ ( def. ) for the noun; collud(e) ( def. ) + -ing ² ( def. ) for the adjective

Example Sentences

Ichung'wah alleged that the agencies had also been colluding with staff at the Russian embassy in Nairobi and the Kenyan embassy in Moscow to help recruits get Russian visas.

From BBC • Feb. 19, 2026

With an attorney on the plaintiffs’ side of the lawsuit colluding with the city’s team, the city could settle the claims on favorable terms.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 18, 2026

My remarks moved an apoplectic plaintiff’s lawyer to point across the room at his opposing counsel, leer in my direction, and ask, “So are you accusing me of colluding with him?”

From Slate • Jan. 13, 2026

The 156-day trial over two years revolved around three charges: two counts under the Beijing-imposed national-security law of colluding with foreign forces, and one count of sedition.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 15, 2025

Instinctively colluding in the conspiracy of their fiction, taking care not to decimate it with adult carelessness.

From "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy