secure
Americanadjective
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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.
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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
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securableadjective
-
supersecureadjective
-
unsecureadjective
-
well-securedadjective
-
oversecurelyadverb
-
quasi-securelyadverb
-
securelyadverb
-
supersecurelyadverb
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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
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
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:
OpenAI’s 20-year lease, parts of which were announced Monday, is the latest complex transaction aimed at helping an AI firm secure an enormous amount of computing capacity.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026
Washington has pursued its own efforts to secure the reopening.
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
The company said the commitments primarily relate to “technical infrastructure and inventory” and “agreements to secure energy for data center usage.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026
The Guardian reports internships designed to secure work for young people with special needs should be put on "turbocharge" to help tackle the youth job crisis.
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
Thanks to her, America’s spy handlers enjoyed highly secure communication links—far safer, for instance, than those used by America’s diplomats.
From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield
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
Only his last published book, The Hands of Esau, showed a fundamental urbanity, a mellower restraint, and perhaps these were the securer the more hardly they had been come by.
From The Tower of Oblivion by Oliver [pseud.] Onions
Man the Rebel 27 Shows the transition stage between instinct and reason, in which man finds himself, and how he can advance to a securer condition.
From The Book of Life by Upton Sinclair
That which is greatest in him is entirely independent of means; much of what he now accomplishes illegitimately might without doubt be attained in securer modes—what cannot should without hesitation be abandoned.
From Modern Painters Volume I (of V) by John Ruskin
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
The odds are that Poetry London-New York will not prove the securest of jobs for Tambi.
From Time Magazine Archive
Vickers, the securest of Otellos onstage, does not always seem comfort able on vinyl.
From Time Magazine Archive
And in their sleep, Lludd folded the covering around them, and in the securest place he had in Snowdon, he hid them in a kistvaen.
From The Mabinogion Vol. 3 by Sir Owen Morgan Edwards
If the petition secures 218 signatures from House members, the full House will vote on the bill.
From Slate ● Aug. 4, 2026
Asked about the prospect of Andy Burnham becoming the next PM if he secures the Labour leadership, Baroness Gray said Burnham had a lot of skills to bring to the role.
From BBC ● Jun. 25, 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
They manned the factories that built the arsenal that won World War II. Now a new generation will pour the foundations and lay the fiber that secures American economic strength for a new age.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 8, 2026
In the second half Erin blocks three shots, intercepts two passes, drives the lane several times for layups, comes off endless screens, sinks shot after shot, and secures the win easily.
From "Boy21" by Matthew Quick
“Our teams collected and cataloged the gold, then promptly secured it in a high-security federal government vault,” the local police said in a statement on their Facebook page.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026
Hours earlier, Mundubile, 55, had claimed a first-round win in the presidential election and said his party had also secured a parliamentary majority.
From Barron's ● Aug. 16, 2026
The California Public Employment Relations Board informed the California Gig Workers Union last week that it had secured support from 30% of active rideshare drivers in the state.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2026
Hichilema's administration has since secured a landmark debt restructuring deal, restored an International Monetary Fund programme and returned the economy to a growth path, winning praise from international lenders and investors.
From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026
He wouldn't desert his girlfriend even when it would have secured his own safety.
From "The Boy on the Wooden Box" by Leon Leyson
Barrick Mining has settled a long-standing dispute with rival Newmont over their Nevada operations, securing a $1.95 billion cash payout and paving the way for Barrick to publicly list its North American gold assets.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026
There was, however, a bit of good news this summer when Stellantis decided to allocate production of the next-generation Opel Astra and DS4 to Ruesselsheim, securing the plant's operations beyond 2029.
From Barron's ● Aug. 16, 2026
The U.S. would ensure that Syria and Lebanon make securing the border and disrupting smuggling a priority.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026
She said she hopes to overhaul the city’s approach to the crisis in the coming months by securing greater control over services such as medical care, addiction treatment and case management.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 9, 2026
“I’m concerned about securing the funding to bring Res back. We haven’t even started on that, and it’s going to cost at least four billion dollars.”
From "A Rover's Story" by Jasmine Warga
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.
