secrete
verb (used with object)
to discharge, generate, or release by the process of secretion.
secrete
1 American
[si-kreet]
/ sɪˈkrit /
verb (used with object)
secreted,
secreting
secrete
2
American
[si-kreet]
/ sɪˈkrit /
verb (used with object)
secreted,
secreting
secrète
3
American
[suh-kret]
/ səˈkrɛt /
noun
Armor.
secrete
1
British
/ sɪˈkriːt /
verb
secrete
2
British
/ sɪˈkriːt /
verb
secrete
Scientific
/ sĭ-krēt′ /
Synonym Usage
See hide 1.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of secrete1
First recorded in 1700–10; back formation from secretion
Origin of secrete2
1735–45; alteration of obsolete secret, verb use of secret
Origin of secrète3
From French; see origin at secret
Explanation
Secrete is all about secrets. It means both "to hide" and "to release." When you squeeze a lemon, it secretes juice. When you stuff your money in a mattress, you secrete it there. It's easy to remember that secrete's all about secrets when you see the word secret inside secrete. Imagine the first person who squeezed a lemon and secreted the juice. Probably felt like he'd discovered a secret stash of citrus goodness. If he was greedy, maybe he gathered all the lemons he could find and secreted them away in a box so no one else would learn the secret of the juice-secretion.
Vocabulary lists containing secrete
Animal Farm
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A Single Shard
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The Pigman
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
RNA-based monitoring may offer an advantage because cancer cells actively secrete RNA rather than passively shedding DNA.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 17, 2026
Species known as Anthony's poison arrow frog and the Phantasmal poison frog are among those that secrete the toxin onto their skin.
From BBC ● Feb. 15, 2026
"Many of the cyst-lining cells actually make growth factors and they secrete them into the cyst fluid," he explained.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 19, 2025
These creatures, more commonly known as violet snails, are distinguished by their striking purple shell and the delicate bubble raft they secrete to stay afloat in the open ocean.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2025
Bono had, I ascertained, connived to secrete them when we had removed to this house from the town; having no use for them upon his exile, he had left them for me.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party" by M.T. Anderson
“I have a bad feeling about this,” Prieur wrote in her butt-covering memoir Agent secrète, published in 1995.
From Slate ● Jul. 22, 2025
The novel — “La plus secrète mémoire des hommes” in French — was praised nearly universally, with Le Monde calling it “a great book.”
From New York Times ● Jul. 22, 2022
Anti-obesity treatments mimic a hormone secreted by the intestines, GLP-1.
From Barron's ● Jul. 21, 2026
Proteins secreted through this system can protect antibodies from breaking down, which strengthens immune defenses and may improve the effectiveness of oral vaccines.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 13, 2026
The small battery secreted inside IXI's autofocus frames should last for two days, says Mr Eiden, adding that it's possible to recharge the specs overnight while the wearer is asleep.
From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2025
They pulled out the skull that authorities said they had secreted inside a jacket in their carry-on luggage.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 26, 2025
Joe found a gaff hook in the barn and began to carry it secreted in his pocket.
From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
"This is a tumor suppressor mechanism that had not been described before, and we think the cancers that can turn it off, by secreting less EV-DNA, have a better chance of spreading," Dr. Wortzel said.
From Science Daily ● Dec. 3, 2024
The researchers isolated vSSCs from people undergoing spinal surgery and found that human vSSCs secreting MFGE8 were more likely to interact with cancer cells than vSSCs that were not secreting the protein.
From Scientific American ● Sep. 14, 2023
He adds that this is the first record of land-dwelling invertebrates producing and secreting this particular neurotoxin.
From National Geographic ● Aug. 4, 2023
The bacteria works by secreting a small molecule, known as harmane, which inhibits the early stages of the malaria parasite growing in the mosquito's gut.
From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2023
They talked about their first mission, taking children, a brother and sister, out of the program and secreting them away through a series of friends and allies.
From "The Marrow Thieves" by Cherie Dimaline
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
