cousins
/ˈkʌz(ə)ns/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.95 in modern English
9
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
The American intelligence services (from a British perspective) or the British intelligence services (from an American perspective).
Slang
name
A surname from Middle English.
noun
Alternative letter-case form of cousins (“the American intelligence services (from a British perspective) or the British intelligence services (from an American perspective)”).
Example Sentences
- "[T]he grounded fieldmen, the trainers and the case officers who made their own murmured caucus always – they saw the question solely in operational terms. […] They saw the shotgun marriage with the Cousins as just another skilful bit of tradecraft in a long and delicate poker game."
Etymology
From cousin + -s (suffix forming pluralia tantum, regular plurals of nouns, and the third-person singular indicative present tense forms of verbs). The plural noun noun 1 sense 1 (“American or British intelligence services”) was popularized in the works of the English author John le Carré (David John Moore Cornwell; 1930–2020).
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈkʌz(ə)ns/
- British English: /ˈkʌzn̩s/