cousins
nounnounverbcommon in dialogue
- United Kingdom//ˈkʌzn̩s//
- United States//ˈkʌz(ə)ns//
- United States//ˈkʌzɪns//
- /[ˈkʰɐz.ɹ̩ns]/
The American intelligence services (from a British perspective) or the British intelligence services (from an American perspective).
noun
- 1
slangThe American intelligence services (from a British perspective) or the British intelligence services (from an American perspective).
[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).
noun
- 1
Also a form of cousinplural of cousin
verb
- 1
Also a form of cousinthird-person singular simple present indicative of cousin
cousins · The American intelligence services (from a British perspective) or the British intelligence services (from an American perspective).
Cousins · A surname from Middle English.cove · A hollow in a rock; a cave or cavern.Cove · A number of places in the United States: An unincorporated…