death squad

noun

1. any of various groups of assassins, especially in Central America, whose members murder political dissidents, petty criminals, etc., usually with the tacit approval of the government.

Word History and Origins

Origin of death squad¹

First recorded in 1965–70

Example Sentences

Stewart, the group's leader, had told the officer that they needed to establish a "new einsatzgruppe" - a reference to Adolf Hitler's SS death squad.

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This, if true, had abandoned them to the death squads.

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His administration ultimately collapsed in a mire of scandals that ended with Fujimori in prison for embezzling government funds and maintaining extrajudicial death squads.

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The death squads were on the payroll of the police, if not actually being the police themselves.

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A chilling scene finds him testing the vision of a man identified as the leader of a village death squad.

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