privates


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pri·vate

 (prī′vĭt)
adj.
1.
a. Secluded from the sight, presence, or intrusion of others: a private hideaway.
b. Designed or intended for one's exclusive use: a private room.
2.
a. Of or confined to the individual; personal: a private joke; private opinions.
b. Undertaken on an individual basis: private studies; private research.
c. Of, relating to, or receiving special hospital services and privileges: a private patient.
3. Not available for public use, control, or participation: a private club; a private party.
4.
a. Belonging to a particular person or persons, as opposed to the public or the government: private property.
b. Of, relating to, or derived from nongovernment sources: private funding.
c. Conducted and supported primarily by individuals or groups not affiliated with governmental agencies or corporations: a private college; a private sanatorium.
d. Enrolled in or attending a private school: a private student.
5. Capitalized in shares of stock that are held by a relatively small number of owners and are not traded on the open market: a private company; a company that went private; took a company private.
6. Not holding an official or public position: a private citizen.
7.
a. Not for public knowledge or disclosure; secret: private papers; a private communication.
b. Not appropriate for use or display in public; intimate: private behavior; a private tragedy.
c. Placing a high value on personal privacy: a private person.
n.
1.
a. A noncommissioned rank in the US Army or Marine Corps that is below private first class.
b. One who holds this rank or a similar rank in a military organization.
2. privates Private parts. Often used with the.
Idioms:
go private
To take a publicly owned company into private ownership, as by a leveraged buyout.
in private
Not in public; secretly or confidentially.

[Middle English privat, from Latin prīvātus, not in public life, past participle of prīvāre, to release, deprive, from prīvus, single, alone; see per in Indo-European roots.]

pri′vate·ly adv.
pri′vate·ness n.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.privates - external sex organprivates - external sex organ      
reproductive organ, sex organ - any organ involved in sexual reproduction
pudendum - human external genital organs collectively especially of a female
female genital organ, female genitalia, female genitals, fanny - external female sex organs; "in England `fanny' is vulgar slang for female genitals"
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
References in classic literature ?
Bobby, the Captain of a dhoni, with Private Dormer for mate, dropped down the river on Thursday morning - the Private at the bow, the Subaltern at the helm.
A DISHONEST Gain was driving in its luxurious carriage through its private park, when it saw something which frantically and repeatedly ran against a stone wall, endeavouring to butt out its brains.
She confided nothing to my private ear but the expression of her best thanks.
But modern bourgeois private property is the final and most complete expression of the system of producing and appropriating products, that is based on class antagonisms, on the exploitation of the many by the few.
But when it came to the twenty-six officers and the private, their knees were so weak that they could not walk a step.
It is immoral to use private property in order to alleviate the horrible evils that result from the institution of private property.
"And do you think that sort of private knowledge consistent with the official position you occupy?"
The owner of one of them has private lessons; she pays extra.
Besides, counsellors are not commonly so united, but that one counsellor, keepeth sentinel over another; so that if any do counsel out of faction or private ends, it commonly comes to the king's ear.
Questioned as to certain private conversations which had passed between her late daughter-in-law and herself, she declared that Mrs.
Before I proceed to give an account of my leaving this kingdom, it may be proper to inform the reader of a private intrigue which had been for two months forming against me.
"We are a handful of private citizens of America, traveling simply