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guerillas - 3 dictionary results

gue⋅ril⋅la

  [guh-ril-uh]
Use guerillas in a Sentence
–noun, adjective
guerrilla.
Related forms:
gue⋅ril⋅la⋅ism, noun

guer⋅ril⋅la

  [guh-ril-uh]
–noun
1. a member of a band of irregular soldiers that uses guerrilla warfare, harassing the enemy by surprise raids, sabotaging communication and supply lines, etc.
–adjective
2. pertaining to such fighters or their technique of warfare: guerrilla strongholds; guerrilla tactics.
Also, guerilla.

Origin:
1800–10; < Sp, dim. of guerra war (< Gmc; cf. war 1 ); orig. in reference to the Spanish resistance against Napoleon; the name for the struggle erroneously taken as a personal n.

Related forms:
guer⋅ril⋅la⋅ism, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To guerillas
guer·ril·la or gue·ril·la   (gə-rĭl'ə)   
n.  A member of an irregular, usually indigenous military or paramilitary unit operating in small bands in occupied territory to harass and undermine the enemy, as by surprise raids.

[Spanish, raiding party, guerrilla force, diminutive of guerra, war, of Germanic origin; see wers- in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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