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fifth column Definition

fifth column

noun

  1. those people in Madrid who aided the forces of Francisco Franco in his uprising against the Spanish republic (1936-39)
  2. any group of people who aid the enemy from within their own country

Etymology: first used by the Sp Nationalist General Mola (1936), who, besieging Madrid with four columns from the outside, boasted of having a “fifth column” within

fifth column Related Forms

fifth columnist noun

Browse dictionary entries near fifth column

  1. ‹ Fifth Amendment
  2. ‹ fifth
  3. ‹ fifteenth
  4. ‹ fifteen
  5. ‹ FIFO
  6. ‹ fife rail
  7. ‹ fife
  8. ‹ fiesta
  9. ‹ Fiesole
  10. ‹ fiery cross
  1. fifth columnist ›
  2. Fifth Republic ›
  3. fifth wheel ›
  4. fiftieth ›
  5. fifty ›
  6. fifty-fifty ›
  7. fig ›
  8. fig leaf ›
  9. fig marigold ›
  10. fig wasp ›