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
While the rivalry between Iran and Turkey plays out in the region, there are accusations that the two countries collude in other ways such as permitting Iranian overflights that supply Hezbollah.
—Melik Kaylan, Forbes.com, 3 Apr. 2025
Talk with them and offer support without colluding or magnifying their discontent or disorientation.
—Tracy Brower, Forbes, 25 Mar. 2025
Baldoni had amended his counterclaim suit against Blake Lively, which also names Reynolds, The New York Times, and others as defendants, and claims Lively and her PR team colluded with the publication to smear him.
—Tomás Mier, Rolling Stone, 18 Mar. 2025
For years, Republicans have claimed that the agency was using its authority to combat misinformation and disinformation as a way to collude with social-media platforms, to censor Americans.
—Sue Halpern, The New Yorker, 12 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for collude
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Melik Kaylan, Forbes.com, 3 Apr. 2025
Talk with them and offer support without colluding or magnifying their discontent or disorientation.
—Tracy Brower, Forbes, 25 Mar. 2025
Baldoni had amended his counterclaim suit against Blake Lively, which also names Reynolds, The New York Times, and others as defendants, and claims Lively and her PR team colluded with the publication to smear him.
—Tomás Mier, Rolling Stone, 18 Mar. 2025
For years, Republicans have claimed that the agency was using its authority to combat misinformation and disinformation as a way to collude with social-media platforms, to censor Americans.
—Sue Halpern, The New Yorker, 12 Mar. 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 8 Apr. 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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