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
Petro did not participate in the attack, which left several guerrillas and around half the high court's magistrates dead.
—
Arkansas Online, 21 Mar. 2026
Among those named are Colombia’s FARC and ELN guerrillas, Mexico’s Sinaloa and Los Zetas cartels, and Venezuela’s own Tren de Aragua criminal gang.
—Antonio María Delgado, Miami Herald, 20 Mar. 2026
The guerrillas agreed to lay down their weapons, face justice, and compensate their victims in exchange for political guarantees and government promises to develop poor, rural areas that gave rise to the FARC in the 1960s.
—John Otis, NPR, 6 Mar. 2026
The executions followed the killing of a German general and his staff by communist guerrillas a few days earlier.
—CBS News, 2 Mar. 2026
Paksa taught drawing and painting to children and met weekly with members of Juventud Peronista (JP), an unarmed wing of the Montoneros guerrillas that focused on community outreach and education.
—Daniel R. Quiles, Artforum, 1 Mar. 2026
Occupying the highland are the Hazerans, who pride themselves on their toughness and their willingness to fight alongside government forces against terrorist guerillas.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 26 Feb. 2026
Armed with quantitative and qualitative data, matrix members regularly meet with stakeholders – including victims, former guerrillas and politicians – to assess the status of implementation and to identify areas that need to be prioritized.
—Josefina Echavarria Alvarez, The Conversation, 3 Dec. 2025
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
Arkansas Online, 21 Mar. 2026
Among those named are Colombia’s FARC and ELN guerrillas, Mexico’s Sinaloa and Los Zetas cartels, and Venezuela’s own Tren de Aragua criminal gang.
—Antonio María Delgado, Miami Herald, 20 Mar. 2026
The guerrillas agreed to lay down their weapons, face justice, and compensate their victims in exchange for political guarantees and government promises to develop poor, rural areas that gave rise to the FARC in the 1960s.
—John Otis, NPR, 6 Mar. 2026
The executions followed the killing of a German general and his staff by communist guerrillas a few days earlier.
—CBS News, 2 Mar. 2026
Paksa taught drawing and painting to children and met weekly with members of Juventud Peronista (JP), an unarmed wing of the Montoneros guerrillas that focused on community outreach and education.
—Daniel R. Quiles, Artforum, 1 Mar. 2026
Occupying the highland are the Hazerans, who pride themselves on their toughness and their willingness to fight alongside government forces against terrorist guerillas.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 26 Feb. 2026
Armed with quantitative and qualitative data, matrix members regularly meet with stakeholders – including victims, former guerrillas and politicians – to assess the status of implementation and to identify areas that need to be prioritized.
—Josefina Echavarria Alvarez, The Conversation, 3 Dec. 2025
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for guerrillas
Noun
-
Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring, supreme commander of the Luftwaffe, Hitler’s second in command, and the highest-ranking surviving Nazi leader, steps out of the car, stands at attention to announce his surrender, and orders the soldiers to carry his bags.—
Alice Kaplan,
The New York Review of Books,
4 Apr. 2026
-
Ten Israeli soldiers have died there.—
Sam Mednick,
Los Angeles Times,
4 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Disrupting basic services to millions of Americans in such circumstances only makes sense to die-hard partisans.—
U T Editorial Board,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
27 Mar. 2026
-
That was the result of angry partisans taking seriously Trump’s bogus election-fraud claims.—
Steven Greenhut,
Oc Register,
27 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Guerrillas.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/guerrillas. Accessed 6 Apr. 2026.
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