secretary of defense

Noun secretary of defense has 2 senses

• secretary of defense(n = noun.person) defense secretary - the person who holds the secretaryship of the Defense Department; "the first Defense Secretary was James V. Forrestal who was appointed by Truman"
is a kind of secretary

• secretary of defense(n = noun.act) defense secretary - the position of the head of the Department of Defense; "the position of Defense Secretary was created in 1947"
is a kind of secretaryship
is a member of united states cabinet, us cabinet