secure

secure adj *safe

Analogous words: *firm, solid: protected, shielded, guarded, safeguarded, defended (see DEFEND): certain, *positive, *sure: impregnable, unassailable, invulnerable, *invincible

Antonyms: precarious, dangerous

secure vb 1 Secure, anchor, moor, rivet can all in extended use mean to fasten or fix firmly or immovably. They are, however, not often interchangeable because of implications derived from their primary senses.

One Secures something that may get lost, may escape, or may permit invasion or intrusion if allowed to remain loose or to work loose; the word usually implies care or protection as the end of the action

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secure doors and windows before retiring to keep out intruders

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replace the nut, and tighten it down to secure the capacitor to the panel— J. A. Stanley

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getting intelligence which . . . will secure your own countrymen against brutality and outrages— Kenneth Roberts

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One anchors or moors something unstable or subject to tugging or pulling by external forces or in-fluences to another thing strong enough to hold it down or in place or powerful enough to counterbalance or counteract the opposing forces

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most classrooms had benches and desks lined up in rows and anchored to the floor— Mumford

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anchor the cables of a suspension bridge to towers at either end

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moored to the rock on two sides, the cabin stood firm— Tyndall

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But moor, which in its primary sense implies a making fast between two anchors or two or more lines or cables, may in extended use suggest greater steadiness or an even balancing of forces that make for stability

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her reticent childhood sweetheart —whose idea of the good life is anchored to his dream of a French version of an American drugstore— N. Y. Times Book Rev.

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some of the tiny cone-shaped hats are attached to chenille snoods . . . which moor them on firmly— P. J. Reynolds

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said a network executive proudly: "While they're with us they [actors on contract] I'll be moored to television—they can't do any Broadway plays or movies."— Time

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One rivets one thing to another when one joins things normally or actually separate from each other as closely together as though a rivet had been driven through them

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fear riveted him to his chair

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why should I write this down, that's riveted, screwed to my memory— Shak.

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the head of the state, in whose name he insisted that all his victories were won, to rivet the loyalty of the army to the civil administration— Buchan

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stood riveted to the earth ... in the fascination of that dreaded gaze— Le Fanu

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Analogous words: establish, *set, settle, fix: *fasten, attach, affix

2 *ensure, insure, assure

Analogous words: protect, *defend, safeguard, guard, shield: preserve, conserve, *save: guarantee, guaranty (see corresponding nouns at GUARANTEE): warrant, *justify

3 procure, obtain, *get, acquire, gain, win

Analogous words: seize, *take, grasp: *reach, attain, achieve, gain: *have, hold, own, possess