guerrilla

a member of an irregular military force: They used guerrilla tactics to overthrow the city.

Not to be confused with:

gorilla – an ape: It was the second time the gorilla escaped from the zoo.

guer·ril·la

or gue·ril·la (gə-rĭl′ə)

A member of an irregular, usually indigenous military or paramilitary force operating in small bands in occupied territory to harass and undermine the enemy, as by surprise raids.

adj.

1. Of or relating to guerrillas or their tactics.

2. Using unconventional and usually inexpensive means to generate interest or raise concern among the public, as in commercial marketing or social activism.

[Spanish, raiding party, guerrilla force, diminutive of guerra, war, of Germanic origin; see wers- in Indo-European roots.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

guerrilla

(ɡəˈrɪlə) or

guerilla

1. (Military)

a. a member of an irregular usually politically motivated armed force that combats stronger regular forces, such as the army or police

b. (as modifier): guerrilla warfare.

2. (Botany) a form of vegetative spread in which the advance is from several individual rhizomes or stolons growing rapidly away from the centre, as in some clovers. Compare phalanx

[C19: from Spanish, diminutive of guerra war]

guerˈrillaism, gueˈrillaism n

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

guer•ril•la

or gue•ril•la

(gəˈrɪl ə)

n., pl. -las.

a member of a band of irregular soldiers engaged in guerrilla warfare.

[1800–10; < Sp, diminutive of guerra war (< Germanic; compare war¹)]

guerrilla

, gorilla - Guerrilla is from a Spanish diminutive of guerra, "war," and refers to a soldier of an independent armed resistance force; gorilla is the ape.

guerrilla

A combat participant in guerrilla warfare. See also unconventional warfare.

Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms. US Department of Defense 2005.