secrete
verb (used with object)
to discharge, generate, or release by the process of secretion.
Showing results for secrete.
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secreting.
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:
Who would have thought serums infused with snail mucin - the sticky substance they secrete - would become a part of skincare routines around the world?
From BBC ● Jan. 2, 2026
Her team pays attention to other stress markers, such as that they secrete mucus when biologically stressed.
From Salon ● May 13, 2025
Hairs covering the stems, leaves and flowers have glands that secrete a sticky substance containing prenylated phenols, which cause an itchy rash, according to Lewis.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 5, 2025
Dr. Lyden and colleagues have found in prior research that tumor cells secrete snippets of EV-DNA from across their genomes, including pieces with cancer-associated mutations.
From Science Daily ● Dec. 3, 2024
Maybe: they secrete chemicals the way insects do, or perhaps the movements of their eyestalks is a form of language similar to the dance of a bee.
From "We Are the Ants" by Shaun David Hutchinson
“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
Released in 2010, “Tangled” is Disney’s animated take on the fairy tale “Rapunzel,” about a young princess with long blond magical hair who had been unknowingly kidnapped and secreted away in an isolated tower.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 10, 2026
Due to their strength, they can be secreted in small volumes in parcels.
From BBC ● Feb. 12, 2026
This led the team to investigate how these proteins are secreted into the plant's sap.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 30, 2025
During the preparations for the final firing of the kiln, he had secreted the little monkey in a corner and managed to retrieve it afterward without Min’s notice.
From "A Single Shard" by Linda Sue Park
"It starts with one male secreting a little ball of glowing mucus," Hensley said.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 30, 2023
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.
