cheka

noun

che·ka

ˈchā(ˌ)kä

plural -s

: secret police (as in a Communist-dominated country) having virtually unrestrained power over life and death

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Russian Čeka, from če + ka, initial letters of Črezvyčajnaja komissija, short for Vserossijskaja črezvyčajnaja komissija po bor'be s kontrrevoljuciej i sabotažem "All-Russian Extraordinary Commission for Combating Counterrevolution and Sabotage," name of the principal Bolshevik state security organ from 1917 to 1922