contra

[ kon-truh; Spanish kawn-trah ]

/ ˈkɒn trə; Spanish ˈkɔn trɑ /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR contra ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural con·tras [kon-truh z; Spanish kawn-trahs] /ˈkɒn trəz; Spanish ˈkɔn trɑs/.

(often initial capital letter) a member of a counterrevolutionary guerrilla group in Nicaragua.

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

contour map, contour ploughing, contour sheet, contoured, contr., contra, contra dance, contra-, contra-aperture, contra-guide rudder, contraband

Origin of contra

< American Spanish, shortening of contrarrevolucionario counterrevolutionary

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for contras

What was it Ronald Reagan called the Contras and the Afghan mujahedin?
The CIA’s Wrong: Arming Rebels Works|Christopher Dickey|October 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Actually some of the Contras whom I knew were the moral equivalent of pathological killers.
The CIA’s Wrong: Arming Rebels Works|Christopher Dickey|October 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
His books include Securing the City, Summer of Deliverance, Expats, and With the Contras.
The Hero Summit 2013 Speakers||September 10, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Si, seores, he had indeed, until Colonel Dupin and the Contras arrived.
The Missourian|Eugene P. (Eugene Percy) Lyle

Seeing Ney, he supposed the Contras at no great distance, and a shot would bring them on his heels.
The Missourian|Eugene P. (Eugene Percy) Lyle
The guerrillas, repulsed by the Americans, fled upon the Contras, whereat the Americans swept them both back indiscriminately.
The Missourian|Eugene P. (Eugene Percy) Lyle
At Contras Henry of Navarre was reported as cut to pieces, yet his loss was less than 10 per cent.
Chattanooga and Chickamauga|Henry V. Boynton
He had deserted the Contras to waylay the rich bullion convoy of which Rodrigo Galn had told him.
The Missourian|Eugene P. (Eugene Percy) Lyle

Word Origin and History for contras (1 of 3)

Contras

see Contra.

Word Origin and History for contras (1 of 3)

contra

mid-14c., from Latin contra (prep. and adv.) "against," originally "in comparison with," ablative singular feminine of *com-teros, from Old Latin com "with, together" (see com-) + -tr, zero degree of the comparative suffix -ter-.

Word Origin and History for contras (2 of 3)

Contra

1981, "anti-Sandinista Nicaraguan," short for Spanish contrarrevolucionario "counter-revolutionary."