secure

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
secure/sɪˈkjʊə(r)/

▶adjective

• 1 fixed or fastened so as not to give way, become loose, or be lost.

• 2 certain to remain safe and unthreatened.

  ■ protected against attack or other criminal activity.

• 3 feeling free from fear or anxiety.

  ■ (secure of) dated feeling no doubts about attaining.

• 4 (of a place of detention) having provisions against the escape of inmates.

▶verb

• 1 fix or fasten securely.

• 2 protect against threats.

• 3 succeed in obtaining.

  ■ seek to guarantee repayment of (a loan) by having a right to take possession of an asset in the event of non-payment.

• 4 Surgery compress (a blood vessel) to prevent bleeding.

– phrases
secure arms Military hold a rifle with the muzzle downward and the lock in the armpit to guard it from rain.

– derivatives
securable adjective,
securely adverb,
securement noun,
secureness noun.

– origin C16 (earlier (ME) as security): from L. securus, from se- ‘without’ + cura ‘care’.