Definition of "conspiracy"
conspiracy
noun
countable and uncountable, plural conspiracies
An agreement or arrangement between multiple parties to do something harmful, immoral or subversive; an instance of collusion.
Quotations
And you may have noticed that those who are too quick to shout 'conspiracy theorist' are equally swift, when consequences for authority and consensus impend, to look serious and say 'It's more complicated than that.' These have become standard damage-control reflexes.
1993, Christopher Hitchens, For the Sake of Argument
Modern political religions may reject Christianity, but they cannot do without demonology. The Jacobins, the Bolsheviks and the Nazis all believed in vast conspiracies against them, as do radical Islamists today. It is never the flaws of human nature that stand in the way of Utopia. It is the workings of evil forces.
2007, John Gray, Apocalyptic Religion and the Death of Utopia
(loosely) A secret agreement to do something.
Quotations
The former programme of the entertainments, which were to result from this generous conspiracy to assist a man whom fortune had buffeted, was eagerly looked for, not only for the reunion of old favorites that it promised to bring about, but out of sympathy for the sentiment which has prompted this graceful act of kindness.
1863 May 30, “Lord Dudley and Mr. Lumley”, in The Musical World, volume 41, number 22, page 339
The people whom he visited were members of the surprise party conspiracy, and kept the pianist involved in a heated discussion until they were sure that the surprise was ready for him.
1916 August 10, “Ernest schelling Given A Surprise Party”, in Musical Courier and Review of Recorded Music, volume 73, page 27
[…] Molly said good-bye and left Emily's office. She had the strangest feeling that Emily and Betty were in this together somehow, a conspiracy to help her out, whether she liked it or not. Jessica might even be in on it, too, she thought vaguely. No, that's just plain silly. I'm being paranoid about people being too nice to me and treating me so respectfully […]
2004 December 7, Thomas Kinkade, A New Leaf: A Cape Light Novel, Penguin, page 252
Sandy had still not arrived, as he was charged with the task of getting his father to the pub for the surprise party. His plan was to offer his parents the opportunity of popping in for a quick pint on the way back from the supermarket in Mallaig. His mother, of course, was in on the conspiracy and had already left a change of clothes in a room at the hotel.
2005, Neal Sillars, A Conspiracy of Ravens, page 182
Later that summer, back in London, poker was also the backdrop for Alvarez's own sixtieth birthday, for which his beloved wife Anne had organised a surprise party. My role in the conspiracy was to get Al out of the house by 6 p.m. – a bit early to head to our poker club in central London, but easily enough done; the problem was going to be getting him back home again as early as 8.
2021, Anthony Holden, Based on a True Story
(loosely) An agreement to work together to bring something about; an act or instance of conspiring.
Quotations
But this I call civil life […] living [together] in good and politic order, one ever ready to do good to another, and as it were conspiring [together] in all virtue and honesty. […] You said right now that this civil life was a politic order and, as it were, a conspiracy in honesty and virtue, […]
1948 , Thomas Starkey, A Dialogue Between Reginald Pole & Thomas Lupset
Quotations
Indeed, as I sat, forlorn, never having found my particular conspiracy of lemurs (how about that for a name for a group of lemurs? The name lemur itself comes from the Latin for “spirits of the dead”) …
2018 February 8, Jeffrey T. Laitman, “The Search for the Intersection of Form and Function: Looking for Clues into What Has Determined How, Why, and When Animals Came to Move the Way They Do”, in The Anatomical Record, volume 301, number 3
(linguistics) A situation in which different phonological or grammatical rules lead to similar or related outcomes.
Quotations
That is, further exploration of phonological systems of various languages may turn up evidence motivating conspiracies that have been regarded thus far as impossible. […] This study of labial palatalization conspiracy is a contribution to the 'too many solutions'/'too few data' problem.
2014, Jerzy Rubach, “Soft labial conspiracy in Kurpian”, in Journal of Linguistics, volume 50, number 1
(by ellipsis) A conspiracy theory; a hypothesis alleging conspiracy.
Quotations
verb
third-person singular simple present conspiracies, present participle conspiracying, simple past and past participle conspiracied
(rare, proscribed) To conspire.
Quotations
Promoters of the CrowdStrike theory often claim that CrowdStrike co-founder Dmitri Alperovitch is Ukrainian, which they see as “proof” of his willingness to conspiracy with the Ukrainian government and Democrats against Putin and Trump in 2016.
2019 November 21, Alex Henderson, “The looney CrowdStrike conspiracy claims debunked by Fiona Hill during her bombshell impeachment testimony”, in AlterNet