"three-letter agency" meaning in English

See three-letter agency in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Forms: three-letter agencies [plural]
Etymology: From initialisms of major intelligence agencies in the United States, such as CIA, FBI and NSA. Head templates: {{en-noun}} three-letter agency (plural three-letter agencies)
  1. (US, humorous) Any intelligence agency of the United States federal government. Tags: US, humorous
    Sense id: en-three-letter_agency-en-noun-o7jR3nJg Categories (other): American English, English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 85 15 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 90 10 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 85 15
  2. (US, humorous, by extension) Any intelligence agency, regardless of nationality and allegiance. Tags: US, broadly, humorous
    Sense id: en-three-letter_agency-en-noun-A29A5jO0 Categories (other): American English

Alternative forms

{
  "etymology_text": "From initialisms of major intelligence agencies in the United States, such as CIA, FBI and NSA.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "three-letter agencies",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "three-letter agency (plural three-letter agencies)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "American English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "85 15",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "90 10",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "85 15",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Any intelligence agency of the United States federal government."
      ],
      "id": "en-three-letter_agency-en-noun-o7jR3nJg",
      "links": [
        [
          "humorous",
          "humorous"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(US, humorous) Any intelligence agency of the United States federal government."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US",
        "humorous"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "American English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Any intelligence agency, regardless of nationality and allegiance."
      ],
      "id": "en-three-letter_agency-en-noun-A29A5jO0",
      "links": [
        [
          "humorous",
          "humorous"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(US, humorous, by extension) Any intelligence agency, regardless of nationality and allegiance."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US",
        "broadly",
        "humorous"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "three-letter agency"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English nouns",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries"
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From initialisms of major intelligence agencies in the United States, such as CIA, FBI and NSA.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "three-letter agencies",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "three-letter agency (plural three-letter agencies)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "American English",
        "English humorous terms"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Any intelligence agency of the United States federal government."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "humorous",
          "humorous"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(US, humorous) Any intelligence agency of the United States federal government."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US",
        "humorous"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "American English",
        "English humorous terms"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Any intelligence agency, regardless of nationality and allegiance."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "humorous",
          "humorous"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(US, humorous, by extension) Any intelligence agency, regardless of nationality and allegiance."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US",
        "broadly",
        "humorous"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "three-letter agency"
}

Download raw JSONL data for three-letter agency meaning in English (1.2kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-10-06 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-10-02 using wiktextract (9f93753 and c1a3a36). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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