See hide 1.
First recorded in 1700–10; back formation from secretion
1735–45; alteration of obsolete secret, verb use of secret
From French; see origin at secret
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.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"Many of the cyst-lining cells actually make growth factors and they secrete them into the cyst fluid," he explained.
From Science Daily • Nov. 19, 2025
These creatures, more commonly known as violet snails, are distinguished by their striking purple shell and the delicate bubble raft they secrete to stay afloat in the open ocean.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 23, 2025
Beavers were hunted to extinction in Britain 400 years ago for their meat, furry water-resistant pelts and a substance they secrete called castoreum - used in food, medicine and perfume.
From BBC • Jun. 27, 2025
Her team pays attention to other stress markers, such as that they secrete mucus when biologically stressed.
From Salon • May 13, 2025
Bono had, I ascertained, connived to secrete them when we had removed to this house from the town; having no use for them upon his exile, he had left them for me.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party" by M.T. Anderson
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.
