cahoots

Etymology

From earlier cahoot. This word was used in popular English literature in the early nineteenth century. It comes perhaps from French cahute (“hut”), from Middle French quahute, from Old French *cahute, chahute, possibly as a blend of cabane (“cabin”) and/or caverne (“cavern”) + Old French hute (“hut”); or alternatively from Old French ca- (pejorative prefix) + hute (“hut”). Also possibly considered to be from French cohorte, or a slang form of English cohort in the meaning "accomplice."

noun

1. Collusion or collaboration to nefarious ends.
   Being frustrated or up in cahoots.
   “They probably give it back to him; they're all in cahoots.” 1990, John Updike, Rabbit at Rest, →OCLC, page 86
   In this account, Hollywood acts in functional cahoots with academia and the news media, and what drives the populism of Republican politicians like Ron DeSantis in Florida and J.D. Vance in Ohio is full-throated opposition to those institutions. 2022-06-02, A. O. Scott, “Are the Movies Liberal?”, in The New York Times, →ISSN
2. (uncommon) plural of cahoot.
   Fisk and his “cahoots” have got at cross purposes, and he has been put out of bed. Whether Fisk is rightly or wrongly out of bed is not for Congress to determine. 1869, United States Congress, Congressional Globe, page 538

verb

1. third-person singular simple present indicative of cahoot