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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 (gcide)

organized crime \organized crime\ n.
Groups of persons organized for illegal purposes, such as
bootlegging, conducting illegal gambling, loansharking,
extortion, etc.; -- a general term encompassing most forms of
criminal groups, but especially those that are consolidated
into "families" more or less recognizing each other's
different regions of operation; sometimes considered
synonymous with the {mafia} or the {syndicate}.
[PJC]


Maffia \Maf"fi*a\, Mafia \Ma"fi*a\, n. [It. maffia.]
1. A secret society which organized in Sicily as a political
organization, but is now widespread among Italians, and is
used to further or protect private interests, reputedly by
illegal methods; called also the {Sicilian Mafia}.
[WordNet sense 2]
[Webster 1913 Suppl.]

2. A group of loosely associated of criminal organizations in
the United States, some having ties to the Sicilian Mafia,
and organized in "families"; the term is applied to the
entire group of organizations, or to any one local group.
Also, loosely, organized groups of criminals anywhere, as
the Russian mafia. [WordNet sense 1]

Syn: syndicate, mob, Cosa Nostra, La Cosa Nostra, organized
crime.
[WordNet 1.6 PJC]

3. Any tightly knit group of trusted associates having strong
control or influence in some area; as, Kennedy and his
Irish Mafia. [informal] [WordNet sense 3]
[PJC]


Mafia \Maf"i*a\, Mafioso \Ma`fi*o"so\, n.
see {maffia}, {maffioso}.
[Webster 1913 Suppl.]


Syndicate \Syn"di*cate\, n. [Cf. F. syndicat, LL. syndicatus.]
1. The office or jurisdiction of a syndic; a council, or body
of syndics. --Bp. Burnet.
[1913 Webster]

2. An association of persons officially authorized to
undertake some duty or to negotiate some business; also,
an association of persons who combine to carry out, on
their own account, a financial or industrial project; as,
a syndicate of bankers formed to take up and dispose of an
entire issue of government bonds.
[1913 Webster]

3. A more or less organized association of criminals
controlling some aspects of criminal activity, in a
specific area or country-wide; -- used loosely as a
synonym for {organized crime} or the {mafia}.
[PJC]

4. (Journalism) a commercial organization that purchases
various journalistic items, such as articles, columns, or
comic strips, from their individual creators, and resells
them to newspapers or other periodicals for simultaneous
publication over a wide area.
[PJC]