in private Definition

private
adj

1. Not open to, or available for the use of, the general public.
2. Said of a person: not holding public office.
3. Kept secret from others; confidential.

Thesaurus: secret, intimate, exclusive, clandestine, concealed, personal, hush-hush (slang), confidential, off the record; Antonym: public.
4. Relating to someone's personal, as distinct from their professional, life.

Example: a private engagement
5. Said of thoughts or opinions: personal and usually kept to oneself.
6. Quiet and reserved by nature.
7. Said of a place: secluded.

Thesaurus: secluded, secret, intimate, concealed, separate, sequestered, isolated.
8a. Not coming under the state system of education, healthcare, social welfare, etc;
8b. Paid for or paying individually by fee, etc.
9. Said of an industry, etc: owned and run by private individuals, not by the state.
10. Said of a soldier: not an officer or NCO.
11. Said of a member of parliament: not holding government office.

noun

1. A private soldier.

Thesaurus: enlisted man (US, enlisted woman (US, conscript, draftee, infantryman, soldier, GI (US, dogface (US slang).
2. colloq
The private parts.
Form: privates

Derivative: privately
adverb

Idiom: in private

Not in public; in secret; confidentially.
Thesaurus: secretly, privately, personally, in camera.

Etymology: 14c: from Latin privatus withdrawn from public life, from privare to deprive or separate.