Cabal

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Cabal \Ca*bal"\ (k[.a]*b[a^]l"), n. [F. cabale cabal, cabala,
     LL. cabala cabala, fr. Heb. qabb[=a]l[=e]h reception,
     tradition, mysterious doctrine, fr. q[=a]bal to take or
     receive, in Pi["e]l qibbel to adopt (a doctrine).]
     1. Tradition; occult doctrine. See {Cabala}. [Obs.]
        --Hakewill.


        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. A secret. [Obs.] "The measuring of the temple, a cabal
        found out but lately." --B. Jonson.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. A number of persons united in some close design, usually
        to promote their private views and interests in church or
        state by intrigue; a secret association composed of a few
        designing persons; a junto.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     Note: It so happend, by a whimsical coincidence, that in 1671
           the cabinet consisted of five persons, the initial
           letters of whose names made up the word cabal;
           Clifford, Arlington, Buckingham, Ashley, and
           Lauderdale. --Macaulay.
           [1913 Webster]
  
     4. The secret artifices or machinations of a few persons
        united in a close design; intrigue.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              By cursed cabals of women.            --Dryden.
  
     Syn: Junto; intrigue; plot; combination; conspiracy.
  
     Usage: {Cabal}, {Combination}, {Faction}. An association for
            some purpose considered to be bad is the idea common
            to these terms. A combination is an organized union of
            individuals for mutual support, in urging their
            demands or resisting the claims of others, and may be
            good or bad according to circumstances; as, a
            combiniation of workmen or of employers to effect or
            to prevent a change in prices. A cabal is a secret
            association of a few individuals who seek by cunning
            practices to obtain office and power. A faction is a
            larger body than a cabal, employed for selfish
            purposes in agitating the community and working up an
            excitement with a view to change the existing order of
            things. "Selfishness, insubordination, and laxity of
            morals give rise to combinations, which belong
            particularly to the lower orders of society. Restless,
            jealous, ambitious, and little minds are ever forming
            cabals. Factions belong especially to free
            governments, and are raised by busy and turbulent
            spirits for selfish purposes".          --Crabb.
            [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Cabal \Ca*bal"\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Caballed} (-b[a^]ld"); p.
     pr. & vb. n. {Caballing}]. [Cf. F. cabaler.]
     To unite in a small party to promote private views and
     interests by intrigue; to intrigue; to plot.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           Caballing still against it with the great. --Dryden.
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  cabal
       n 1: a clique (often secret) that seeks power usually through
            intrigue [syn: {faction}, {junto}, {camarilla}]
       2: a plot to carry out some harmful or illegal act (especially
          a political plot) [syn: {conspiracy}]
       v : engage in plotting or enter into a conspiracy, swear
           together; "They conspired to overthrow the government"
           [syn: {conspire}, {complot}, {conjure}, {machinate}]
       [also: {caballing}, {caballed}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  157 Moby Thesaurus words for "cabal":
     Anschluss, addition, affiliation, age group, agglomeration,
     aggregation, agreement, alliance, amalgamation, artifice,
     assimilation, association, band, battalion, bevy, blend, blending,
     body, brigade, bunch, cadre, camarilla, cartel, cast, caucus, cell,
     centralization, charmed circle, circle, clan, clique,
     closed circle, club, coalescence, coalition, cohort, collusion,
     combination, combine, combo, company, complement, complicity,
     complot, composition, confederacy, confederation, congeries,
     conglomeration, conjugation, conjunction, connivance, connive,
     consolidation, conspiracy, conspire, contingent, contrivance,
     contriving, corps, coterie, counterplot, covey, covin, crew, crowd,
     deep-laid plot, detachment, detail, division, ecumenism, elite,
     elite group, embodiment, encompassment, engineering, enosis,
     faction, federalization, federation, finagling, finesse, fleet,
     frame-up, fusion, game, gang, group, grouping, groupment, hookup,
     in-group, inclusion, incorporation, ingroup, inner circle,
     integration, intrigue, junction, junta, junto, league, little game,
     machinate, machination, maneuvering, manipulation, marriage, meld,
     melding, merger, mob, movement, out-group, outfit, pack, package,
     package deal, party, peer group, phalanx, platoon, plot, plotting,
     posse, regiment, rigging, ring, salon, scheme, schemery, scheming,
     set, solidification, squad, stable, stratagem, string, syncretism,
     syndication, syneresis, synthesis, team, tie-up, tribe, trick,
     troop, troupe, underplot, unification, union, unit, we-group,
     web of intrigue, wedding, wing, wire-pulling