The advisory board or council of a king or other chief executive. In the government of the United States the cabinet is composed of the secretary of state, the sec- cretary of the treasury, the secretary of the interior, the secretary of war, the secretary of the navy, the secretary of agriculture, the secretary of commerce and labor, the attorney general, and the postmaster general. The select or secret council of a prince or executive government; so called from the apartment in which it was originally held. Webster.