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bin Laden

American

[bin lahd-n] / bɪn ˈlɑd n /

Or Bin Laden

noun

Osama, 1957–2011, Arab militant leader: founder of al-Qaeda.

bin Laden British

/ ˌbɪnˈlɑːdən /

noun

Osama (əʊˈsɑːmə). 1957–2011, Saudi-born leader of the al-Qaida terrorist network: presumed architect of the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington of September 11 2001. Killed by US Special Forces in Abbottabad, Pakistan

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Former president Barack Obama released a Situation Room view when Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was killed in a US special forces raid in Pakistan in 2011.

From Barron's • Feb. 28, 2026

He didn’t say, as Osama bin Laden did after 9/11, that the world respects only “the strong horse.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 8, 2026

Barack Obama captured Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in 2011, but remained at war in Afghanistan for the remainder of his presidency.

From Slate • Jan. 5, 2026

He not only reported on the front-line fighting but also won exclusive, and controversial, interviews with then-President Saddam Hussein and future 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 21, 2025

Both bin Laden and Ronald Reagan saw the Soviet Union as the “evil empire,” but bin Laden came to see the United States as evil too.

From "The World Is Flat" by Thomas L. Friedman

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023