Definition of "connivance" [con•niv•ance]

• The act of conniving. (noun)
• Law Knowledge of and tacit consent to the commission of an illegal act by another. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The mob burnt down shops and even outlets selling milk allegedly in connivance with the police"
• "It is probable that the Count was in connivance with them about all this, but anybody was surely little acquainted with me who did not know that I was too busy with my art to give any time to politics, even if I had not always felt an aversion to everything smacking of intrigue."
• "It would be absurd to attribute any political meaning to the incident, or to suppose that it had any connivance from the French Government."