guerrilla
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
a soldier in a small, independent group that fights a larger, official army using surprise attacks.
a member of an irregular, usually indigenous, armed force that fights a stronger, conventional military through sabotage and harassment.
Simple“The guerrillas hid in the mountains and attacked the supply trucks at night.”
In context“The government forces struggled to contain the guerrillas, who utilized their knowledge of the dense jungle to launch effective hit-and-run operations.”
“During the past several decades, it has been celebrated to ensure that they are not caught in the crossfire between the guerrillas and the military.”
“Was it a mistake for 99 Colombian guerrillas to lay down their arms?”
Borrowed from Spanish guerrilla, diminutive of guerra (“war”), coined during the Peninsular War.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.