go private
private
noun[ C ]
uk /ˈpraɪ.vət/ us /ˈpraɪ.vət/
(alsoPrivate)
a soldier of the lowest rank in an army: 二等兵，列兵
Private Murray/Sam Murray列兵穆雷／列兵萨姆·穆雷
[ as form of address ]You're dismissed, Private.你可以走了，列兵。

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Ranks in the Army
brigadier
brigadier general
col
colonel
Corp.
corporal
field marshal
general
generalship
lance corporal
Lieut.
major
major general
sarge
sergeant
sergeant major
Sgt
staff officer
subaltern

private | American Dictionary

private
adjective
us/ˈprɑɪ·vɪt/

privateadjective (PERSONAL)

for the use of or belonging to one particular person or group only, or not shared or available to other people:
The sign on the gate said "Private Property – Keep Out."
Let’s go somewhere private so we can talk freely.
 in private
If you do something in private, you do it without other people present:
I asked if I could talk to her in private.

privateadjective (INDEPENDENT)

[ not gradable ]
belonging to or managed by a person or independent company rather than the government:
The governor visited Ireland as a private citizen (= not as an official).
private
noun[ C ]
us/ˈprɑɪ·vɪt/

privatenoun[C] (RANK)

a person in the military of the lowest rank, below a corporal

private | Business English

private
adjective
uk /ˈpraɪvɪt/us
used to describe a company with shares that are not traded on a stock market:
EM.TV is a private family-owned company.
ECONOMICS
owned or controlled by one person or company, rather than by a government:
Much of the funding for this type of investment comes from public, rather than private, sources.
We need to review public and private interests in order to balance them carefully.
The center has about 85 employees supported by private money from grants and donations.
private health insurance
private agencies/institutions/hospitals
ECONOMICS
private employees, investors, etc. act for themselves, rather than for a government or company:
private buyers/investors
a private contractor/developer
COMMERCE, FINANCE
only offered to particular people or organizations to buy and not offered to the public:
The property was sold by private treaty.
a private sale
intended only for the use of one person or group of people:
a private jet
a private club
MEETINGS
involving only a small group of people and kept secret:
Senior group executives are reported to be in private talks regarding a possible merger.
a private agreement/conversation
connected with your personal life, rather than your job:
Employees are asked to keep private emails/phone calls to a minimum.
 go private
FINANCE, STOCK MARKET
if a company whose shares are traded on a stock market goes private, the owners buy the shares back from other shareholders in order to take control of the company themselves:
The Canadian utility company is well on its way to going private through a $22 billion management-led buyout.
ECONOMICS, GOVERNMENT
if an organization that is owned by the government goes private, it is sold to investors:
The satellite company was bought by its current owners for $3.1 billion in cash after going private and shedding its intergovernmental ownership.
UK
to pay for your own medical treatment, rather than using treatment provided by the National Health Service:
People who cannot find an NHS dentist are already going private and insurers are keen to fill in gaps in their finances.
 in private
MEETINGS
something that is done in private is done secretly and only involves a small group of people:
Negotiations are underway in private.
 in private hands
ECONOMICS, GOVERNMENT
owned or controlled by one person or company, rather than by a government:
The transaction would put control of a key service in private hands.
owned by one person, rather than by an organization:
Two original copies of the manuscript are still in private hands.
 take sth private
FINANCE, STOCK MARKET
to take control of a company or organization whose shares are traded on a stock market by buying the shares back from other shareholders:
Two of the world's richest men combined to take the upmarket hotel chain private in a $1.95bn deal.

Examples of private

private
Officially, ecclesiastical matrimony had thus replaced secular, private, and clandestine marriage.
Moreover, in a liberal democracy with a well-developed private sector, would-be hegemonic efforts to extend the party's influence through society can have unexpected results.
The data were collected at home parties, lunchtime breaks, and other private venues.
The potential for such liability claims will provide private parties with an added incentive to bring cases.
First, private parties often lack the individual incentive to initiate litigation before national courts.
The remaining fourteen had moved into private enterprise, mostly with firms specializing in the field of their former ministries.
The remaining 43 % are in four-room and five-room public housing and with only 6 % in private housing.
These gains in private technical efficiency raise social costs as the technological resource stock externality is exacerbated.
For example, when control took place, the private sector could not use its trading capacity fully.
First, how do the opportunities for private gain differ in different electoral systems?
The full utilization of existing private production facilities, with some renovation, was assumed to be sufficient at this stage.
Thus, we compare the cost of the protection of trees between private and community plantations.
Issues of independence and transparency may be more complicated for private payer technology coverage decisions.
They favored the creation of strong central bureaucratic authorities to ensure that the new agglomerations of private power operated ultimately in the public interest.
The issue had to be transformed into a "visible" subject, and private views into debatable opinions.
See all examples of private
These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.