Online dictionaryOnline dictionary
Synonyms, antonyms, pronunciation

  Home 		English Dictionary      examples: 'day', 'get rid of', 'New York Bay'




Fifth column   Listen
noun
fifth column  n.  
1.
A group of persons inside the battle lines of a territory engaged in a conflict, who secretly sympathize with the enemy, and who engage in espionage or sabotage; sometimes also referred to as a trojan horse.
2.
Hence, any faction of persons within a group who secretly sympathize with an enemy, especially those who engage in activities harmful to the group; an enemy in one's midst; a group of traitors.





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


Advanced search
     Find words:
Starting with
Ending with
Containing
Matching a pattern  

Synonyms
Antonyms
Quotes
Words linked to  

only single words


Share |
Add this dictionary
to your browser search bar




"Fifth column" Quotes from Famous Books



... the count Jozerans The fifth column have mustered, of Normans, A thousand score, or so say all the Franks; Well armed are they, their horses charge and prance; Rather they'ld die, than eer be recreant; No race neath heav'n can more in th'field compass. Richard the old, lead them in th'field he shall, He'll strike hard there ...
— The Song of Roland • Anonymous
... Mexico and the Panama Canal Zone disclosed an espionage network directed by the Rome-Berlin-Tokyo axis and operating against the peace and security of the United States. A scrutiny of the Nazi Fifth Column[1] in a few European countries, especially in Czechoslovakia just before that Republic was turned over to Germany's mercy by the Munich "peace" and in France where Nazi and Italian agents built an amazing secret underground army, has made the fascist activities in the ...
— Secret Armies - The New Technique of Nazi Warfare • John L. Spivak


Words linked to "Fifth column" :   saboteur, unit


Copyright © 2024 Dictionary One.com