guerrilla

noun

guer·ril·la | \ gə-ˈri-lə

, ge-, g(y)i-\

variants: or guerilla

Definition of guerrilla

(Entry 1 of 2)

: a person who engages in irregular warfare especially as a member of an independent unit carrying out harassment and sabotage (see sabotage sense 2) Guerrillas controlled half the country.

guerrilla

adjective

Definition of guerrilla (Entry 2 of 2)

: of, relating to, or suggestive of guerrillas especially in being aggressive, radical, or unconventional guerrilla warfare

Examples of guerrilla in a Sentence

Noun

The guerrillas controlled half the country.

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

The venues were very original: an underground station or the streets of Paris, with a guerrilla mood. — Monica Kim, Vogue, "Converse Taps a Trio of Young Fashion Talent to Reimagine Its Cult Classics," 23 Apr. 2019 Mr Dhlakama unified old guerrilla fighters with his party’s modern political wing. — The Economist, "Will Afonso Dhlakama’s death derail peace in Mozambique?," 10 May 2018 The man accused of carrying out the bombing of a police academy that killed 20 people here was identified by Colombian authorities as a longtime member of a Marxist rebel group whose guerrilla fighters operate along the porous border with Venezuela. — Kejal Vyas, WSJ, "Colombia Pins Police Bombing on Marxist Rebels," 18 Jan. 2019 Their options: a conservative senator backed by business elite, or a leftist former mayor who was a guerrilla fighter in the 1980s. — Manuel Rueda, The Christian Science Monitor, "As Colombians head to polls, peace is still a work in progress," 15 June 2018 At age 6, Adul already had escaped a territory in Myanmar known for guerrilla warfare, opium cultivation and methamphetamine trafficking. — Hannah Beech, The Seattle Times, "For some Thai soccer-team members, cave ordeal was only their latest test," 10 July 2018 At age 6, Adul had already escaped a territory in Myanmar known for guerrilla warfare, opium cultivation and methamphetamine trafficking. — Hannah Beech, New York Times, "Stateless and Poor, Some Boys in Thai Cave Had Already Beaten Long Odds," 10 July 2018 The main Kurdish militia, acknowledging defeat in Afrin, has vowed to turn to guerrilla warfare to confront Turkish troops. — Washington Post, "AP Explains: What’s next after Turkey seizes Syria’s Afrin," 19 Mar. 2018 In the weeks since Duque's resounding victory over leftist ex-guerrilla Gustavo Petro, the president-elect has signaled both his loyalty to Uribe and a conviction to chart his own path. — Manuel Rueda, Fox News, "Incoming Colombia president faces long list of challenges," 7 Aug. 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective

Maybe a little too guerrilla style for some of the crews. — Gary Thompson, Philly.com, "Tommy Chong: 'The whole reason for making marijuana illegal was to prosecute black and brown people'," 5 Apr. 2018 Her interviews were guerrilla achievements and global events. — Dwight Garner, New York Times, "The Life of Oriana Fallaci, Guerrilla Journalist," 16 Oct. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'guerrilla.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.