a secret political clique or faction 秘密政治派系,秘密小集团 a cabal of dissidents. 不同政见者组成的秘密集团。 ■(historical)a committee of five ministers under Charles II, whose surnames happened to begin with C, A, B, A, and L (史)(查理二世时的)五大臣小集团(此五人姓名首字母恰好为C,A,B,A和L)
语源
late 16th cent. (denoting the cabbala): from French cabale, from medieval Latin cabala (see Cabbala)