variants
or guerillas
as in soldiers
a member of a usually small group of soldiers who do not belong to a regular army and who fight in a war as an independent unit
The guerrillas controlled half the country.
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Recent Examples of guerrillas
The group began in a Rio de Janeiro prison in the 1970s as a means of self-protection for prisoners, and was inspired by leftist guerrillas.
—
Rebecca Schneid, Time, 29 Oct. 2025
As well as the complexities of this Colombian ecosystem between the guerrillas, the military Special Forces, indigenous belief systems, Catholicism?
—Stephen Schaefer, Boston Herald, 9 Sep. 2025
Its most explosive event was Quantrill’s Raid in August 1863, when a group of Confederate guerrillas led by William Quantrill laid waste to Lawrence and killed upward of 200 people, some of them as young as 13 years old.
—Quentin Corpuel, Kansas City Star, 6 Sep. 2025
This came after a lengthy trial in which US prosecutors accused him of exchanging firearms for cocaine shipments with the now-defunct FARC guerrillas, whose dissidents in Colombia control some of the key regions for narcotics production.
—Stefano Pozzebon, CNN Money, 1 Sep. 2025
Ruiz Massieu, who has served as special representative of the secretary-general in Colombia since 2019 monitoring the implementation of the peace agreement between the government of Colombia and the FARC-EP guerrillas, arrived in Haiti over the weekend.
—Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 6 Aug. 2025
Rebecca Schneid, Time, 29 Oct. 2025
As well as the complexities of this Colombian ecosystem between the guerrillas, the military Special Forces, indigenous belief systems, Catholicism?
—Stephen Schaefer, Boston Herald, 9 Sep. 2025
Its most explosive event was Quantrill’s Raid in August 1863, when a group of Confederate guerrillas led by William Quantrill laid waste to Lawrence and killed upward of 200 people, some of them as young as 13 years old.
—Quentin Corpuel, Kansas City Star, 6 Sep. 2025
This came after a lengthy trial in which US prosecutors accused him of exchanging firearms for cocaine shipments with the now-defunct FARC guerrillas, whose dissidents in Colombia control some of the key regions for narcotics production.
—Stefano Pozzebon, CNN Money, 1 Sep. 2025
Ruiz Massieu, who has served as special representative of the secretary-general in Colombia since 2019 monitoring the implementation of the peace agreement between the government of Colombia and the FARC-EP guerrillas, arrived in Haiti over the weekend.
—Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 6 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for guerrillas
Noun
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The most recent border flare-up came after five Thai soldiers were injured in a landmine explosion, with the incident prompting Thailand to downgrade diplomatic relations with its neighbor.—
Helen Regan,
CNN Money,
11 Nov. 2025
-
In a statement, the Army said that Livelsberger had access to and used a program that provides physical, cognitive and medical care to soldiers.—
Tonya Simpson,
ABC News,
11 Nov. 2025
Noun
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Beloved by liberal partisans and loathed by their counterparts, Pelosi was one of the last engineers of an old-school political machine that could count votes better than anyone in a generation.—
Philip Elliott,
Time,
6 Nov. 2025
-
Critics will predictably argue that those two positions are inherently linked; on the opposite side of the political spectrum, oil and gas partisans could point to Gates’ essay as proof that climate hysteria was misguided all along and that fossil use should continue unimpeded.—
Tim McDonnell,
semafor.com,
28 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Guerrillas.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/guerrillas. Accessed 12 Nov. 2025.
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