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Watergate

(-gāt′)

☆

noun

a scandal that involves officials violating public trust through subterfuge, bribery, burglary, and other abuses of power in order to maintain their positions of authority

Origin: after Watergate, building complex in Washington, D.C., housing Democratic Party headquarters, burglarized (June, 1972) under direction of government officials

See Watergate in American Heritage Dictionary 4

noun

A series of scandals occurring during the Nixon administration in which members of the executive branch organized illegal political espionage against their perceived opponents and were charged with violation of the public trust, bribery, contempt of Congress, and attempted obstruction of justice.

Origin:

Origin: After Watergate, a building complex in Washington, D.C., the site of a burglary (1972) that gave rise to the scandals

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