KGB

American

Or K.G.B.

the intelligence and internal-security agency of the former Soviet Union, organized in 1954 and responsible for enforcement of security regulations, protection of political leaders, the guarding of borders, and clandestine operations abroad.

KGB British

abbreviation

the former Soviet secret police, founded in 1954 Compare GRU

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

KGB Cultural

The secret police of the former Soviet Union.

Etymology

Origin of KGB

< Russian, for K ( omitét ) g ( osudárstvennoĭ ) b ( ezopásnosti ) Committee for State Security

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Dmitri had to give up his dream of joining the KGB when his hope that the new president, Boris Yeltsin, would be removed by the remnants of the Communist regime were dashed.

From The Wall Street Journal

When Vladimir Putin was elected president of Russia in 2000, a reporter asked what he did as a KGB case officer in Dresden, East Germany.

From The Wall Street Journal

Two embassy wives, played by Emilia Clarke and Haley Lu Richardson, embrace their Person of No Interest status to take on the KGB as spies in Peacock’s sparky, soulful series.

From Los Angeles Times

For decades, the Cuban secret service, trained during the Soviet era by the KGB, enjoyed a reputation for invincibility.

From Barron's

"To my enduring surprise, the KGB replied that it had set aside for me $2 million in gratitude for the information," he said in an eight-page statement he read to the court.

From BBC

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023