conspiracy
n. C / Un. a secret plan made by a group of people to do something harmful or illegal. You use this word when people work together in private to break the law or trick others.
n. a secret agreement between two or more people to perform an unlawful or harmful act. Often used in legal contexts to describe the planning stage of a crime, regardless of whether the act is completed.
The police uncovered a conspiracy to steal the bank's data.
The three executives were arrested for their role in a conspiracy to fix prices across the industry.
Historians continue to debate whether the assassination was the work of a lone gunman or the result of a wider political conspiracy involving high-ranking officials.
From Middle English conspiracie, from Anglo-Norman conspiracie, from Latin cōnspīrātiō, from conspire + -acy.
Often followed by the preposition 'to' and an infinitive verb, or 'of' followed by a noun phrase.
They made a conspiracy.They engaged in a conspiracy.Learners often use 'make' with conspiracy, but the standard collocations are 'engage in', 'join', or 'uncover' a conspiracy.