Secretary of Defense
181
4.6
- noun
- /ˈsɛkrəˌtɛri əv dɪˈfɛns/
- Formal
:
secretario de defensa (EE. UU.)
- "Voices of dissent were heard from the CIA director, the Secretary of Defense, and the National Security Advisor.
- Deputy Secretary of Defense
- Assistant Secretary of Defense
- Secretary of Defense's office
And he caught Robert McNamara, who was the Secretary of Defense during the Vietnam War.
- And he caught Robert McNamara, who was the Secretary of Defense during the Vietnam War.
- And since then, as we've all heard, the Secretary of Defense has recommended retaining the mandate.
- But what I failed to do when I was acting Secretary of Defense was to ask for that briefing.
- And eventually Bill Perry went back to be Secretary of Defense.
- And again, this is explained to me point by point from former Secretary of Defense William Perry, right?
- This is the the Secretary of Defense is a black man.
- Bill Pierce, who was then the Secretary of Defense, threatened to resign to Clinton.
- That's not American Secretary of Defense.
- DARPA has got a bridge to the Secretary of Defense, and the Secretary of Defense is able to make it stuff stick with the military.
- Now, if he if, if he were Secretary of Defense or Secretary of State under, under Trump, I can't imagine it would last, you know, for more than six months.
Examples
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Funding for intelligence, 80 percent of which falls under the responsibility of the Secretary of Defense, should also be reconsidered.
Academic text (2011) -
I am assuming command under the authority of the Secretary of Defense.
Fiction book (1995) -
That was our Secretary of Defense on the record just a couple of months ago.
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I think you know the Secretary of Defense.
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But what I failed to do when I was acting Secretary of Defense was to ask for that briefing.
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I spoke to the Secretary of Defense, who seems more aware of the complexity of the situation.
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And so our graduation speaker was the Secretary of Defense at the time because his daughter was in our class.
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I've been sent here by the Secretary of Defense... on direct orders from the President of the United States.
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Take, for instance, the comments in a speech made by Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara in November of 1963.
Academic text (1992) -
The Secretary of Defense held a press conference to discuss new military strategies.
Synonyms
71
3.9
A senior United States government leader in charge of the military
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly derivable from combining 'secretary' (a senior official) with 'of' (a genitive/linking preposition) and 'Defense' (the military department); together they denote the official who heads the defense department. This is a straightforward, compositional noun phrase pattern found cross-linguistically (e.g. 'Minister of Defence'), so a B1 learner who knows the parts will understand the MWE.
Etymology
Secretary of Defense comes from two simple ideas: a secretary was a trusted helper who handled important papers and 'secrets', and defense means protecting the country. So the title shows a trusted official who manages work to 'protect' the nation and advise the president.