guerrilla
n. countablen. a member of a small, unofficial group of soldiers that uses surprise attacks to fight a larger, regular army. They often hide in forests or mountains and rely on the help of local people.
n. a member of an irregular, usually indigenous armed force that operates in small groups within territory controlled by an enemy. Often used to describe combatants who rely on mobility and surprise rather than traditional military formation.
The guerrilla fighters hid in the thick jungle to avoid detection.
The government struggled to defeat the guerrilla movement because the fighters were deeply embedded within the local villages.
Historians often distinguish between conventional warfare and guerrilla tactics, noting that the latter relies heavily on the psychological exhaustion of a superior force over time.
Borrowed from Spanish guerrilla, diminutive of guerra (“war”), coined during the Peninsular War.
Often used as a modifier before another noun, such as 'guerrilla warfare' or 'guerrilla marketing'.