secure
Americanadjective
-
free from or not exposed to danger or harm; safe.
- Antonyms:
- unsafe
-
dependable; firm; not liable to fail, yield, become displaced, etc., as a support or a fastening.
The building was secure, even in an earthquake.
-
affording safety, as a place.
He needed a secure hideout.
-
in safe custody or keeping.
Here in the vault the necklace was secure.
-
free from care; without anxiety.
emotionally secure.
-
firmly established, as a relationship or reputation.
He earned a secure place among the baseball immortals.
-
sure; certain; assured.
secure of victory;
secure in religious belief.
- Synonyms:
- confident
-
safe from penetration or interception by unauthorized persons.
secure radio communications between army units.
-
Archaic. overconfident.
verb (used with object)
-
secures,
present (3rd person singular)
-
secured,
past participle, past
-
securing
present participle
-
to get hold or possession of; procure; obtain.
to secure materials;
to secure a high government position.
- Synonyms:
- gain
-
to free from danger or harm; make safe.
Sandbags secured the town during the flood.
-
to effect; make certain of; ensure.
The novel secured his reputation.
-
to make firm or fast, as by attaching.
to secure a rope.
-
Finance.
-
to assure payment of (a debt) by pledging property.
-
to assure (a creditor) of payment by the pledge or mortgaging of property.
-
-
to lock or fasten against intruders.
to secure the doors.
-
to protect from attack by taking cover, by building fortifications, etc..
The regiment secured its position.
-
to capture (a person or animal).
No one is safe until the murderer is secured.
-
to tie up (a person), especially by binding the person's arms or hands; pinion.
-
to guarantee the privacy or secrecy of.
to secure diplomatic phone conversations.
verb (used without object)
-
secures,
present (3rd person singular)
-
secured,
past participle, past
-
securing
present participle
-
to be or become safe; have or obtain security.
-
Nautical.
-
to cover openings and make movable objects fast.
The crew was ordered to secure for sea.
-
to be excused from duty.
to secure from general quarters.
-
adjective
-
free from danger, damage, etc
-
free from fear, care, etc
-
in safe custody
-
not likely to fail, become loose, etc
-
able to be relied on; certain
a secure investment
-
nautical stowed away or made inoperative
-
archaic careless or overconfident
verb
-
(tr) to obtain or get possession of
I will secure some good seats
-
to make or become free from danger, fear, etc
-
(tr) to make fast or firm; fasten
-
to make or become certain; guarantee
this plan will secure your happiness
-
(tr) to assure (a creditor) of payment, as by giving security
-
(tr) to make (a military position) safe from attack
-
nautical to make (a vessel or its contents) safe or ready by battening down hatches, stowing gear, etc
-
(tr) nautical to stow or make inoperative
to secure the radio
Synonym Usage
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
securementnoun
-
securenessnoun
-
securernoun
-
supersecurenessnoun
-
unsecurenessnoun
-
resecureverb
-
presecureverb (used with object)
-
oversecureadjective
-
quasi-secureadjective
-
securableadjective
-
supersecureadjective
-
unsecureadjective
-
well-securedadjective
-
oversecurelyadverb
-
quasi-securelyadverb
-
securelyadverb
-
supersecurelyadverb
-
unsecurelyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
securesimple
-
securessimple
-
have securedperfect
-
has securedperfect
-
am securingprogressive
-
are securingprogressive
-
is securingprogressive
-
have been securingperfect progressive
-
has been securingperfect progressive
Past
-
securedsimple
-
had securedperfect
-
was securingprogressive
-
were securingprogressive
-
had been securingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of secure
First recorded in 1525–35; from Latin sēcūrus “carefree,” equivalent to sē- se- + cūr(a) “care” ( see cure) + -us, adjective suffix; cf. sure
Explanation
Secure means safe, protected. Your money is secure in a bank. Supportive friends and family make you feel secure. Secure can also be used as a verb. You secure the sails before you take out the sailboat, which means you tie them down. If you secure someone a ticket to a popular Broadway play, you've found them a hard-to-find seat. On an airplane, you're told that in the event you need an oxygen mask, you should secure yours — get it in place — before helping someone else. Almost all meanings contain the idea of safety: making sure things are right.
Vocabulary lists containing secure
The SAT: Multiple-Meaning Words, List 1
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Preamble to the U.S. Constitution (1787)
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The ACT Reading Test: Multiple-Meaning Words, List 1
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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:
Workers who have managed to secure jobs are hanging onto them, especially in white-collar industries where the market isn’t nearly as dynamic as it is in blue-collar sectors.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 5, 2026
Educational psychologist Dr Patricia Britto says while words can often be crucial, the most important thing is that a child feels "safe, valued and emotionally secure".
From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2026
A new bill aims to secure U.S. supply chains and elevate the Commerce Department to lead national quantum policy.
From Barron's ● Sep. 4, 2026
Its premiere coincides with the “Reacher” finale drop, with Alan Ritchson showing up in her story to make a secure a hand-off.
From Salon ● Sep. 4, 2026
VED: This session is now secure and protected under passcode 2H30S7FM39 with required voice identification from Dr. Maria Sabio.
From "The First State of Being" by Erin Entrada Kelly
By the time of his silver jubilee in 1935, the position of this reimagined British monarchy was securer than it had ever been.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 28, 2022
In general, it was not a year in which the older novelists made their reputations securer.
From Time Magazine Archive
A securer heritage, however, than parental savings, is parental faith and piety.
From The International Monthly, Volume 3, No. 1, April, 1851 by Various
Of all the Americans who have lived, none is securer of lasting remembrance than Rutherford B. Hayes, who was born in Delaware, October 4, 1822.
From Stories Of Ohio by William Dean Howells
Shocked and embarrassed, she let go her hold, and allowed the old gentleman, with what remained of his cup of tea, to go and find out for himself a securer place.
From The Home by Mary (Mary Botham) Howitt
The securest hold was Adam Sandler's: his Grown Ups fell a negligible 14%.
From Time ● Jul. 11, 2010
Asserted one of Thatcher's aides: "It's going to stimulate the economy, and expansion is the securest form of revenue."
From Time Magazine Archive
Vickers, the securest of Otellos onstage, does not always seem comfort able on vinyl.
From Time Magazine Archive
The odds are that Poetry London-New York will not prove the securest of jobs for Tambi.
From Time Magazine Archive
The houses are more than half a mile apart, and I thought proper to go thither on foot, and not to take any common path, but to cross the fields, as the securest mode.
From Anna St. Ives by Thomas Holcroft
If the petition secures 218 signatures from House members, the full House will vote on the bill.
From Slate ● Aug. 4, 2026
Watch the dramatic third-set tiebreak on Centre Court between Karolina Muchova and Coco Gauff which secures Muchova's place in the Wimbledon 2026 final.
From BBC ● Jul. 9, 2026
China’s Taiyi Quantum secures $44 million in Pre-A funding, highlighting intensified state-backed quantum development as a national priority.
From Barron's ● Jun. 29, 2026
Sometimes called a “future-advance mortgage,” it secures debt on your home and may even allow other debts to be secured under the same mortgage.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 22, 2026
Beetee secures a mask to my belt that I don’t have to wear unless there’s a gas attack.
From "Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins
Wooden—who, like Grand and Maxwell, quickly secured legal help from an experienced member of the Supreme Court bar—won his case 9-0.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 5, 2026
But the ruthless manner in which she secured victory will certainly boost confidence as she looks to complete a rare 'three-peat' of US Open titles.
From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026
The British company secured a long-awaited banking licence in its home market in March, lifting restrictions on its ability to compete with established retail lenders.
From Barron's ● Sep. 3, 2026
That story is officially 102 years long—with the right to vote having been secured just 14 years before Steinem’s birth in 1934.
From Slate ● Sep. 3, 2026
But that didn't matter—as long as the latch was secured, the lid was going to stay exactly where it was.
From "City of the Plague God" by Sarwat Chadda
Offord led Reform to a breakthrough in the Scottish Parliament elections in May, securing 17 MSPs to make them the joint second largest party in Holyrood.
From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026
Lebanon's Prime Minister Nawaf Salam welcomed Ghazi's release and thanked the US for its role in securing it.
From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026
Yet the region lacks infrastructure to get sufficient oil to a refinery, and financing such a project would be a challenge, as would securing permits.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
It then returned to the market in 2019 for the much higher price of $22.8 million, but ultimately sold for almost half that amount, securing a buyer for $11.98 million in 2021.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 1, 2026
The engineers from the generating station had brought their cable right down to it, and the technicians were busy securing the clamps and making ready the terminals.
From "The Amber Spyglass" by Philip Pullman
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.
