Defense Secretary
71
3.9
- noun
- /dɪˈfɛns ˈsɛkrəˌtɛri/
- Formal
:
secretario de Defensa
- As defense secretary, she made significant changes to the country's military policy.
- former Defense Secretary
- Deputy Defense Secretary
- U.S. Defense Secretary
Robert McNamara, Kennedy's Defense Secretary, when asked years later how we got through the Cuban Missile crisis, said it was luck.
- Robert McNamara, Kennedy's Defense Secretary, when asked years later how we got through the Cuban Missile crisis, said it was luck.
- Because that you know, if, if, if the inauguration in the fact that we are bringing in, you know, making DUI hires for Defense Secretary.
Examples
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The defense secretary gave an important speech about national security at the ceremony.
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With the fall elections looming, the defense secretary's plans are already the subject of intense Washington speculation.
Academic text (2010) -
I, uh, had dinner a week or so ago with the president and the defense secretary.
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Good afternoon, Defense Secretary Delacourt.
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You have to let me talk to Defense Secretary Keller before you go to war with the wrong country!
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Prior to the failure, Defense Secretary McElroy had explained the need for hastening the program.
Academic text (1994) -
When he resigned from government service, he wrote a letter to Defense Secretary Jim Mattis expressing his frustration.
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Robert McNamara, Kennedy's Defense Secretary, when asked years later how we got through the Cuban Missile crisis, said it was luck.
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Finally, Sen. John Warner's (R.-Va.) amendment asked the defense secretary to report on initiatives to increase unit cohesion.
Academic text (1991) -
During a press conference, the defense secretary outlined new military strategies for the upcoming year.
Synonyms
181
4.6
The person in the United States government who is in charge of the military and advises the President
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound combines 'Defense' (military protection/agency) with 'secretary' (a senior official heading a ministry), so the meaning — the government official who heads the defense department — is directly derivable from its parts. The modifier+head pattern (e.g., Defense Minister/Secretary) is cross-linguistically common; aside from country-specific title conventions, a B1 learner who knows both constituents will understand the term.
Etymology
Defense Secretary comes from two plain words: defense, meaning 'protecting the country', and secretary, a trusted person who manages an office and important papers. So the title means the person who runs and is in charge of the country's defense, the 'head of the Department of Defense'.