Verb

(secur)

To make safe; to relieve from apprehensions of, or exposure to, danger; to guard; to protect.

* Dryden

I spread a cloud before the victor's sight, / Sustained the vanquished, and secured his flight.

To put beyond hazard of losing or of not receiving; to make certain; to assure; frequently with against'' or ''from'', or formerly with ''of .

to secure''' a creditor against loss; to '''secure a debt by a mortgage

* T. Dick

It secures its possessor of eternal happiness.

To make fast; to close or confine effectually; to render incapable of getting loose or escaping.

to secure''' a prisoner; to '''secure a door, or the hatches of a ship

To get possession of; to make oneself secure of; to acquire certainly.

to secure an estate

* 2014 , Jamie Jackson, " Ángel di María says Manchester United were the ‘only club’ after Real", The Guardian , 26 August 2014:

With the Argentinian secured United will step up their attempt to sign a midfielder and, possibly, a defender in the closing days of the transfer window. Juventus’s Arturo Vidal, Milan’s Nigel de Jong and Ajax’s Daley Blind, who is also a left-sided defensive player, are potential targets.

"[Captain] was able to secure some good photographs of the fortress." (Flight, 1911, p. 766)

* , chapter=3

, title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=One saint's day in mid-term a certain newly appointed suffragan-bishop came to the school chapel, and there preached on “The Inner Life.”  He at once secured attention by his informal method, and when presently the coughing of Jarvis […] interrupted the sermon, he altogether captivated his audience with a remark about cough lozenges being cheap and easily procurable.}}

Verb

(en verb)

(obsolete) To support (someone), to back up or assist (someone) in an action.

*:

*:And thenne he asked leue & wente oute of his heremytage for to mayntene his neuewe ageynst the myghty Erle / and so hit happed that this man that lyeth here dede dyd so moche by his wysedome and hardynes that the Erle was take and thre of his lordes by force of this dede man

To keep up; to preserve; to uphold (a state, condition etc.).

*, chapter=17

, title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=This time was most dreadful for Lilian. Thrown on her own resources and almost penniless, she maintained herself and paid the rent of a wretched room near the hospital by working as a charwoman, sempstress, anything. In a moment she had dropped to the level of a casual labourer.}}

*{{quote-news, year=2011, date=November 5, author=Phil Dawkes, work=BBC Sport

, title= QPR 2-3 Man City , passage=Mancini's men were far from their best but dug in to earn a 10th win in 11 league games and an eighth successive victory in all competitions to maintain their five-point lead at the top of the table.}}

*{{quote-magazine, date=2013-03, author=Nancy Langston, volume=101, issue=2, page=98

, magazine=(American Scientist) , title= Mining the Boreal North , passage=Reindeer are well suited to the taiga’s frigid winters. They can maintain a thermogradient between body core and the environment of up to 100 degrees, in part because of insulation provided by their fur, and in part because of counter-current vascular heat exchange systems in their legs and nasal passages.}}

To declare or affirm (a clause) to be true; to assert.

* {{quote-news, year=2012, date=April 19, author=Josh Halliday, work=the Guardian

, title= Free speech haven or lawless cesspool – can the internet be civilised? , passage=She maintains that the internet should face similar curbs to TV because young people are increasingly living online. "It's totally different, someone at Google watching the video from the comfort of their office in San Francisco to someone from a council house in London, where this video is happening right outside their front door."}}