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View synonyms for Gestapo

Gestapo

[ guh-stah-poh; German guh-shtah-poh ]

noun

  1. the German state secret police during the Nazi regime, organized in 1933 and notorious for its brutal methods and operations.


adjective

  1. (sometimes lowercase) of or resembling the Nazi Gestapo, especially in the brutal suppression of opposition:

    The new regime is using gestapo tactics.

Gestapo

/ ɡɛˈstɑːpəʊ; ɡeˈʃtaːpo /

noun

  1. the secret state police in Nazi Germany, noted for its brutal methods of interrogation
“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


Gestapo

  1. The secret police of the Third Reich in Germany . The Gestapo operated against Germans suspected of treason by using brutal interrogation and torture; they instilled widespread fear by their terrorist methods.


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Notes

Figuratively, any brutal secret police organization may be called a “gestapo.”
“Gestapo tactics” in general are intimidating official procedures.
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Word History and Origins

Origin of Gestapo1

< German Ge ( heime ) Sta ( ats ) po ( lizei )
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Word History and Origins

Origin of Gestapo1

from German Ge ( heime ) Sta ( ats ) po ( lizei ), literally: secret state police
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Example Sentences

The French police supplied the trucks; the Gestapo, the men.

On April 25, 1941, the Gestapo moved into the building and I had to give all the keys to the Germans.

The director of the Gestapo answered only to Heinrich Himmler, and Himmler, only to the Fuhrer himself.

Still, at its largest in 1944, the Gestapo had only 31,000 agents to fulfill its grim brief across all of occupied Europe.

All over Europe, the Gestapo orchestrated mass killings on a daily basis.

This new role of dodging the Gestapo appealed enormously to his comic strip sense of melodrama.

He never knows when the hand of the German Gestapo may drop on his shoulder.

But there are lots and lots of other Gestapo rats still alive and kicking.

Three Gestapo rats are dead and gone out of the picture for us.

You see, we hope that you two will be able to draw the Gestapo away from Jones.

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