Wendie Conliffe
1. a. Secluded from the sight, presence, or intrusion of others: a private hideaway. b. Designed or intended for one's exclusive use: a private room. 2. a. Of or confined to the individual; personal: a private joke; private opinions. b. Undertaken on an individual basis: private studies; private research. c. Of, relating to, or receiving special hospital services and privileges: a private patient. 3. Not available for public use, control, or participation: a private club; a private party. 4. a. Belonging to a particular person or persons, as opposed to the public or the government: private property. b. Of, relating to, or derived from nongovernment sources: private funding. c. Conducted and supported primarily by individuals or groups not affiliated with governmental agencies or corporations: a private college; a private sanatorium. d. Enrolled in or attending a private school: a private student. 5. Not holding an official or public position: a private citizen. 6. a. Not for public knowledge or disclosure; secret: private papers; a private communication. b. Not appropriate for use or display in public; intimate: private behavior; a private tragedy. c. Placing a high value on personal privacy: a private person. n. 1. a. Abbr. PVT or Pvt or Pvt. A noncommissioned rank in the U.S. Army or Marine Corps that is below private first class. b. One who holds this rank or a similar rank in a military organization. 2. privates Private parts. Often used with the. Idioms: go private To take a publicly owned company into private ownership, as by a leveraged buyout. in private Not in public; secretly or confidentially.
Printed copy · Anthology Volume 1, page 989
