The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

organized crime \organized crime\ n.
   Groups of persons organized for illegal purposes, such as
   bootlegging, conducting illegal gambling, loansharking,
   extortion, etc.; -- a general term encompassing most forms of
   criminal groups, but especially those that are consolidated
   into "families" more or less recognizing each other's
   different regions of operation; sometimes considered
   synonymous with the mafia or the syndicate.
   [PJC]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Syndicate \Syn"di*cate\, v. i.
   To unite to form a syndicate.
   [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Syndicate \Syn"di*cate\, v. t. [LL. syndicatus, p. p. of
   syndicare to censure.]
   To judge; to censure. [Obs.]
   [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Syndicate \Syn"di*cate\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. syndicated; p.
   pr. & vb. n. syndicating.]
   1. To combine or form into, or manage as, a syndicate.
      [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

   2. To acquire or control for or by, or to subject to the
      management of, a syndicate; as, syndicated newspapers.
      [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

   3. (Journalism) to purchase various journalistic items, such
      as articles, columns, or comic strips, from their
      individual creators, and resell them to numerous
      periodicals for simultaneous publication over a wide area;
      a syndicated columnist.
      [PJC]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Syndicate \Syn"di*cate\, n. [Cf. F. syndicat, LL. syndicatus.]
   1. The office or jurisdiction of a syndic; a council, or body
      of syndics. --Bp. Burnet.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. An association of persons officially authorized to
      undertake some duty or to negotiate some business; also,
      an association of persons who combine to carry out, on
      their own account, a financial or industrial project; as,
      a syndicate of bankers formed to take up and dispose of an
      entire issue of government bonds.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. A more or less organized association of criminals
      controlling some aspects of criminal activity, in a
      specific area or country-wide; -- used loosely as a
      synonym for organized crime or the mafia.
      [PJC]

   4. (Journalism) a commercial organization that purchases
      various journalistic items, such as articles, columns, or
      comic strips, from their individual creators, and resells
      them to newspapers or other periodicals for simultaneous
      publication over a wide area.
      [PJC]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

syndicate
    n 1: a loose affiliation of gangsters in charge of organized
         criminal activities [syn: syndicate, crime syndicate,
         mob, family]
    2: an association of companies for some definite purpose [syn:
       consortium, pool, syndicate]
    3: a news agency that sells features or articles or photographs
       etc. to newspapers for simultaneous publication
    v 1: join together into a syndicate; "The banks syndicated"
    2: organize into or form a syndicate
    3: sell articles, television programs, or photos to several
       publications or independent broadcasting stations

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

154 Moby Thesaurus words for "syndicate":
   Aktiengesellschaft, Black Hand, British Cabinet, Cosa Nostra,
   Mafia, Sanhedrin, US Cabinet, add, advisory body, affiliate,
   aktiebolag, ally, amalgamate, assembly, assimilate, associate,
   association, bench, black market, blend, bloc, board,
   body corporate, body of advisers, bootlegging, borough council,
   brain trust, business, business establishment, cabinet, camarilla,
   cartel, chain, chamber, chamber of commerce, city council,
   coalesce, combine, come together, commercial enterprise,
   common council, compagnie, company, compound, comprise, concern,
   confederate, conference, conglomerate, conglomerate corporation,
   congress, connect, consolidate, consolidating company, consortium,
   consultative assembly, copartnership, corporate body, corporation,
   council, council fire, council of ministers, council of state,
   council of war, county council, court, deliberative assembly, diet,
   directory, distribute, divan, diversified corporation, embody,
   encompass, enterprise, firm, flux, fuse, gambling, gangdom,
   gangland, gray market, group, holding company, house,
   illegal commerce, illegal operations, illegitimate business,
   illicit business, include, incorporate, industry, integrate,
   interblend, interfuse, join, joint-stock association,
   joint-stock company, junta, kitchen cabinet, league, legislature,
   loan-sharking, lump together, mafia, make one, meld, melt into one,
   merge, mix, monopoly, moonshining, narcotics traffic,
   operating company, organization, organized crime, parish council,
   partnership, plunderbund, pool, privy council, prostitution,
   protection racket, public utility, put together, racket, reembody,
   roll into one, serialize, shade into, shady dealings, solidify,
   soviet, staff, stock company, syncretize, syndication, synod,
   synthesize, the Mafia, the mob, the rackets, the syndicate,
   the underworld, trade association, traffic in women, tribunal,
   trust, unify, union, unite, usury, utility, white slavery