colluded; colluding; colludes
: to work together secretly especially in order to do something illegal or dishonest : conspire, plot
It was arithmetically possible, too, for a handful of senators … to collude with the president to approve a treaty betraying some vital interest to a foreign power.—
Jack N. Rakove
Jack N. Rakove… the travails of the world's two biggest art-auction businesses, … rivals that now stand accused by the U.S. Justice Department of colluding to rig the auction market by fixing their sales-commission rates.—Robert Hughes
Robert Hughes… argues that while the kids are not entitled to collective representation, major universities are permitted to collude to prevent players from being paid for their work.—David Sirota
David Sirota
Did you know?
Collude Has Latin Roots
The Latin prefix col-, meaning "together," and the verb ludere, "to play," come together to form collude. The related noun collusion has the specific meaning "secret agreement or cooperation." Despite their playful history, collude and collusion have always suggested deceit or trickery rather than good-natured fun.
Examples of collude in a Sentence
The two companies had colluded to fix prices.
accused of colluding to block the sale of the vacant land
Recent Examples on the Web
The Trump administration should focus on the problem-makers: education bureaucracies and teachers unions that have long colluded to deny Black and Latino families access to quality schools.
—Paul Vallas, Chicago Tribune, 7 May 2025
Access to this international signaling network was once confined to a relatively small club of mostly Western telecommunications firms, and by extension, the state intelligence agencies that colluded with those firms, either informally or through lawful access requests.
—Ronald J. Deibert, Foreign Affairs, 24 Apr. 2025
There’s more friction, this time between Randall and Elliot, when Randall and Bell collude to get El to a checkup MRI.
—Kimberly Roots, TVLine, 24 Apr. 2025
Listen to this article Ten New Jersey landlords colluded with software company RealPage to increase rent prices throughout the state, authorities said Wednesday.
—Joseph Wilkinson, New York Daily News, 23 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for collude
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Paul Vallas, Chicago Tribune, 7 May 2025
Access to this international signaling network was once confined to a relatively small club of mostly Western telecommunications firms, and by extension, the state intelligence agencies that colluded with those firms, either informally or through lawful access requests.
—Ronald J. Deibert, Foreign Affairs, 24 Apr. 2025
There’s more friction, this time between Randall and Elliot, when Randall and Bell collude to get El to a checkup MRI.
—Kimberly Roots, TVLine, 24 Apr. 2025
Listen to this article Ten New Jersey landlords colluded with software company RealPage to increase rent prices throughout the state, authorities said Wednesday.
—Joseph Wilkinson, New York Daily News, 23 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for collude
Cite this Entry
“Collude.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/collude. Accessed 18 May. 2025.
Copy CitationLegal Definition
collude
intransitive verb
col·lude
kə-ˈlüd 
colluded; colluding
: to agree or cooperate secretly for a fraudulent or otherwise illegal purpose
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