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Glite Dictionary
Committee for State Security

Committee for State Security

7.1
The Soviet Union's main secret police and intelligence agency
  • proper noun
translation icon : Comité para la Seguridad del Estado
  • The Committee for State Security was known for its extensive surveillance.

Examples

  • The Committee for State Security played a central role in Soviet intelligence gathering during the Cold War.

  • Did the Committee for State Security influence political decisions?

  • After the Soviet Union dissolved, the Committee for State Security was replaced by a new agency.

  • Many former officers of the Committee for State Security went on to have prominent roles in Russian politics.

  • During the Cold War, the Committee for State Security played a crucial role in intelligence operations.

  • The Committee for State Security was known for its extensive surveillance activities across the Soviet Union.

  • Members of the Committee for State Security were often feared by the general population due to their secretive nature.

Synonyms

KGB
vsCommittee for State Security
373 6.0

A Soviet government security service that collected secret information and acted as secret police until 1991

is the formal full name rather than the short abbreviation
Soviet KGB
vsCommittee for State Security
7.5

The main secret police and spy group in the former Soviet Union

is the official full name without a national qualifier

Surface Forms

Committee for State Security main

Morphology

committee + for + state + security

The phrase is fully compositional: 'committee' (a group) + 'for' (purpose) + 'state' (government) + 'security' (protecting the state) yields the meaning 'a committee responsible for state security'. Although it is a proper name for the Soviet security agency (KGB), a B1 learner who knows the constituent words can derive the basic institutional meaning without prior exposure.

Etymology

Committee for State Security is a literal name: committee means a small group, state means the government, and security means keeping things safe, so the name refers to the Soviet 'secret police' and 'spy service' that watched people to keep the government safe.