"cloak-and-dagger" meaning in English

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        "3": "de cape et d'épée",
        "4": "",
        "5": "of the cloak and the sword"
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  "etymology_text": "Calque of French de cape et d’épée (“of the cloak and the sword”); first attested 1840. The French term referred to a genre of drama in which the main characters wore cloaks and had swords. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow used the “cloak and sword” term in 1840, whereas Charles Dickens preferred “cloak and dagger” a year later.",
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
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        },
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Espionage",
          "orig": "en:Espionage",
          "parents": [
            "Deception",
            "Secrecy",
            "Security",
            "Ethics",
            "Human behaviour",
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            "Fundamental"
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        {
          "ref": "2009 February 18, Philip Sherwell, Dina Kraft, “Israel wages cloak-and-dagger war on Iran”, in The Age",
          "text": "Israel wages cloak-and-dagger war on Iran [headline]",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Marked by menacing furtive secrecy, often with a melodramatic tint or espionage involved."
      ],
      "id": "en-cloak-and-dagger-en-adj-2VwY3mCI",
      "links": [
        [
          "menacing",
          "menace"
        ],
        [
          "furtive",
          "furtive"
        ],
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          "secrecy",
          "secrecy"
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          "melodramatic",
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      "related": [
        {
          "word": "cloak-and-sworder"
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      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "covert"
        },
        {
          "word": "clandestine"
        },
        {
          "word": "undercover"
        },
        {
          "word": "covert"
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      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "marked by menacing furtive secrecy",
          "word": "salamyhkäinen"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "marked by menacing furtive secrecy",
          "word": "de cape et d’épée"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "marked by menacing furtive secrecy",
          "word": "Mantel-und-Degen"
        },
        {
          "alt": "がいとうとたんけん",
          "code": "ja",
          "lang": "Japanese",
          "roman": "gaitō to tanken",
          "sense": "marked by menacing furtive secrecy",
          "word": "外套と短剣"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "marked by menacing furtive secrecy",
          "word": "potajemny"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "marked by menacing furtive secrecy",
          "word": "de intriga y misterio"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "marked by menacing furtive secrecy",
          "word": "de capa y espada"
        }
      ],
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        "Charles Dickens",
        "Henry Wadsworth Longfellow"
      ]
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  "word": "cloak-and-dagger"
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  "etymology_text": "Calque of French de cape et d’épée (“of the cloak and the sword”); first attested 1840. The French term referred to a genre of drama in which the main characters wore cloaks and had swords. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow used the “cloak and sword” term in 1840, whereas Charles Dickens preferred “cloak and dagger” a year later.",
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "cloak-and-sworder"
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          "melodramatic"
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          "espionage",
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      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "covert"
        },
        {
          "word": "clandestine"
        },
        {
          "word": "undercover"
        },
        {
          "word": "covert"
        }
      ],
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  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "marked by menacing furtive secrecy",
      "word": "salamyhkäinen"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "marked by menacing furtive secrecy",
      "word": "de cape et d’épée"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "marked by menacing furtive secrecy",
      "word": "Mantel-und-Degen"
    },
    {
      "alt": "がいとうとたんけん",
      "code": "ja",
      "lang": "Japanese",
      "roman": "gaitō to tanken",
      "sense": "marked by menacing furtive secrecy",
      "word": "外套と短剣"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "marked by menacing furtive secrecy",
      "word": "potajemny"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "marked by menacing furtive secrecy",
      "word": "de intriga y misterio"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "marked by menacing furtive secrecy",
      "word": "de capa y espada"
    }
  ],
  "word": "cloak-and-dagger"
}