jihad

noun

ji·had | \ ji-ˈhäd

, chiefly British -ˈhad\

variants: or less commonly jehad

Definition of jihad

1 : a holy war waged on behalf of Islam as a religious duty also : a personal struggle in devotion to Islam especially involving spiritual discipline

2 : a crusade for a principle or belief

Examples of jihad in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

There are worrying links, as the Chinese authorities are keen to point out, between Uighur separatism and global jihad, especially in the Uighur diaspora, which is based in Turkey. — The Economist, "China has turned Xinjiang into a police state like no other," 31 May 2018 In recent years, the ISIS affiliate has recruited heavily from the region, arming Peul men in return for their participation in jihad. — Eric Schmitt And Rukmini Callimachi, New York Times, "Niger Ambush Suspect May Be in Custody, Officials Say," 16 Apr. 2018 Most of the extremist groups still hiding in the jungles tread a line between organized crime and jihad. — Jake Maxwell Watts, WSJ, "Muslims in the Philippines Emerge From the Fog of War to Vote on Self-Rule," 18 Jan. 2019 In 2014, al-Baghdadi declared the caliphate and the terror group launched a social media campaign to lure recruits, encouraging individuals to join the fight in Iraq and Syria or commit acts of violent jihad at home. — Lisa Rose, CNN, "US has 1,000 open ISIS investigations but a steep drop in prosecutions," 16 May 2018 Murder suspect on 'jihad' against US policy in Middle East admits to N.J. armed robbery. — Fox News, "FOX NEWS FIRST: Stormy Daniels' Trump affair story has storm clouds; Inflated 'March for Our Lives' numbers?," 26 Mar. 2018 This is a list of girls who have become victims of love jihad. — Annie Gowen, Washington Post, "A Muslim and a Hindu thought they could be a couple. Then came the ‘love jihad’ hit list.," 26 Apr. 2018 Under Levant, The Rebel has become a global platform for an extreme anti-Muslim ideology known as counter-jihad. — Jane Coaston, Vox, "Steve King endorses a bona fide white supremacist for Toronto mayor," 18 Oct. 2018 As part of the plea, Damache admitted to training a child to prepare for jihad. — Claudia Lauer, The Seattle Times, "Algerian tied to cartoonist death plot guilty of terrorism," 23 July 2018

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