guerrilla warfare

American  

noun

1. the use of hit-and-run tactics by small, mobile groups of irregular forces operating in territory controlled by a hostile, regular force.

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guerrilla warfare Cultural  

1. Wars fought with hit-and-run tactics by small groups against an invader or against an established government. (See counterinsurgency.)

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Etymology

Origin of guerrilla warfare

First recorded in 1835–45

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

guerrilla warfare

Navy’s siege is revealing a hole in Tehran’s strategy of guerrilla warfare and controlling the Strait of Hormuz.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 2, 2026

But as a group, the Taliban sustained more than 20 years of war against the US and its Nato allies, so its capacity to carry out unconventional and guerrilla warfare is well evidenced.

From BBC ● Feb. 27, 2026

Regarding Venezuela, Goldman himself says that he arrived too late, after Che Guevara had died and after the guerrilla warfare was over.

From Salon ● Sep. 6, 2024

The floating fetus, we’re told, communicates with mother and brother not in the typical ooh, the baby’s kicking fashion, but rather, in full-blown telepathic sentences about interplanetary strategy and guerrilla warfare.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 21, 2024

In other regions—including much of Central America, Mexico, Peru, New Caledonia, the former Soviet Union, and parts of Indonesia—civil unrest or guerrilla warfare pits still-numerous indigenous populations against governments dominated by descendants of invading conquerors.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond