gherao

British

/ ɡɛˈraʊ /

noun

a form of industrial action in India in which workers imprison their employers on the premises until their demands are met

"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

Etymology

Origin of gherao

from Hindi gherna to besiege

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.

They formed a chain and blocked Pathrabe’s door in a type of civil disobedience known as a gherao, or encirclement, a favorite tactic of Indian labor activists in the 1960s.

From Los Angeles Times

Some invoked gherao, a tactic borrowed from India in which workers barricade employers in their offices until wage demands are met.

From Time Magazine Archive

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