Definition of "syndicate" [syn•di•cate]

• An association of people or firms authorized to undertake a duty or transact specific business. (noun)
• An association of people or firms formed to engage in an enterprise or promote a common interest. (noun)
• A loose affiliation of gangsters in control of organized criminal activities. (noun)
• An agency that sells articles, features, or photographs for publication in a number of newspapers or periodicals simultaneously. (noun)
• A company consisting of a number of separate newspapers; a newspaper chain. (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.

• "Finally in late 1992 three members of Mkhize's hitsquad, which he called his syndicate, were arrested for the attack on ANC leader"
• "Multenius and Levendale would make -- or were making -- what he called a syndicate to buy it from him."
• "He said al-Qaida and what he calls a syndicate of affiliated groups are less capable of large-scale, coordinated attacks than they once were and in many cases their leadership has been killed or captured."