wet work
Blood-spilling espionage operations
Wet work is espionage or military slang for assassination or other operations involving bloodshed—the "wet" referring to spilled blood.
The term carries a clinical detachment, turning killing into bureaucratic jargon: The agency contracted out its wet work.
It appears frequently in spy fiction and thrillers.
Professional paid murderer
- contract killerPaid professional murderer
- assassinPaid murderer of targets
- liquidationSelling assets for cash
- eliminationAct of removing entirely
neutralization · target · hit · cleaner · operative · gun for hire · button man · enforcer
Unacknowledged covert activities
- clandestineConcealed from authorities
- cloak-and-daggerInvolving secret intrigue
- undercoverSecretly engaged in espionage
- infiltrationCovert entry into organization
exfiltration · tradecraft · dead-drop · intelligence · counterintelligence · special forces · commando · sabotage
Approval or punitive measure
- terminateBring to an end
- neutralizeCancel an effect
- liquidateConvert assets to currency
- removeTake something away
dispatch · silence · erase · handle · take care of · executive action · extreme prejudice · final solution
hitman
Professional paid murderer
- contract killerPaid professional murderer
- assassinPaid murderer of targets
- liquidationSelling assets for cash
elimination · neutralization · target · hit · cleaner · operative · gun for hire · button man · enforcer · sniper
black ops
Unacknowledged covert activities
- clandestineConcealed from authorities
- cloak-and-daggerInvolving secret intrigue
- undercoverSecretly engaged in espionage
infiltration · exfiltration · tradecraft · dead-drop · intelligence · counterintelligence · special forces · commando · sabotage · reconnaissance
sanction
Approval or punitive measure
- terminateBring to an end
- neutralizeCancel an effect
- liquidateConvert assets to currency
remove · dispatch · silence · erase · handle · take care of · executive action · extreme prejudice · final solution · clean up
- Spy Fictionspy, secret agent, double agent, MI6, CIA
- Spycraftspy, agent, asset, covert, handler
- Doublespeakcollateral damage, enhanced interrogation, friendly fire, regime change, neutralize
- espionagespy, spies, double agent, double agents, spying
- spy operationscovert ops, black ops, infiltration, exfiltration, deep cover
wet workextraction
Act of removing
rescue operation · protection detail · rendition · apprehension · exfiltration
wet worksurveillance
Systematic observation of subjects
reconnaissance · intelligence gathering · observation · monitoring · signals intelligence
wet worklifesaving
Preserving human existence
humanitarian work · peacekeeping · protection · medical intervention · rescue
work, wet, worker, working, works, workers, worked, workable, workforce