Worthless Word for the Day

[teapeebubbles]

the worthless word for the day is: okhrana

[fr. Russian oxrana, lit. guarding, protection,
security] /ah KRAH nuh/ also okhranka

in Imperial Russia: a secret police department
set up in 1881 (after the assassination of Tsar
Alexander II) to maintain state security and
suppress revolutionary activities, and abolished
after the February Revolution in 1917 (now Hist.)

the security services of the Soviet Union or its
successors

"The krysha (roof) is the protection racket...
The okhrana is the security outfit, official or
unofficial... Try telling the two apart."
- Guardian (Electronic ed.), 29 Apr. 2000