Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A small exclusive group of friends or associates.
- intransitive verb To form, associate in, or act as a clique.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A party; a set; a coterie; specifically, a body or group of persons associated informally for some exclusive or intriguing purpose.
- To form cliques or exclusive sets; associate together in cliques, usually with unworthy or selfish motives.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun A narrow circle of persons associated by common interests or for the accomplishment of a common purpose; -- generally used in a bad sense.
- intransitive verb To To associate together in a clannish way; to act with others secretly to gain a desired end; to plot; -- used with together.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A small,
exclusive group of individuals;cabal - noun graph theory A
subgraph isomorphic to acomplete graph . - noun Internet A group of related
web sites that link to each other, like awebring but with exclusive membership determined by the clique owner. - verb To
associate together in aclannish way; to act with others secretly to gain a desired end; toplot .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun an exclusive circle of people with a common purpose
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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We'll have a look today at a brand new documentary, filmmakers going inside Enron's company walls to expose what they call a clique of corporate cowboys.
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But sanctions are available under the Civil Rules, However, the injured party must make a motion for sanctions and the Attorney-Judge clique is too incestuous to grant (or even to bring) these types of motions. fed
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I have little time in my elitist life to contribute comments to mere comic book sites such as this, not when my clique is gathering to have a conceit party against whatever the hell we think is beneath us.
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The old clique is being edged out by conservative, Western oriented and devout Muslims.
Turkey Fights For A Secular Islam « Unambiguously Ambidextrous 2008
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Sitting amidst this scared, insecure clique is Reiser, spinning a web of bullshit like a master hypnotist.
Current Movie Reviews, Independent Movies - Film Threat 2005
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Once the clique is born, members communicate with each other via e-mail, chat, discussion boards and instant messaging.
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The present military clique is taking full advantage of this and similar ancient beliefs.
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The independent Miss Blythe, whom a certain clique of Junior Red Cross girls accused of being domineering and "bossy," was thoroughly cowed.
Rilla of Ingleside Lucy Maud 1921
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I would also be a bit suspicious of the apparently inside track of the admin clique but if you’re up for it, then it would certainly be interesting.
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The two bosuns are in fear of their lives with this clique, which is growing; for Steve Roberts, the ex-cowboy, and the white-slaver, Arthur
CHAPTER XVII 2010
seanahan commented on the word clique
A fully connected subgraph.
April 17, 2007
uselessness commented on the word clique
Wordie.
June 26, 2007