Fifth Column Definition
noun
A group of people who aid the enemy from within their own country.
Webster's New World
Synonyms:
Other Word Forms of Fifth Column
Noun
Singular:
fifth column
Plural:
fifth columnsOrigin of Fifth Column
From a 1936 radio address by Spanish Nationalist general Emilio Mola, in which he spoke of four of his army columns moving on Madrid and a quinta columna consisting of his militant supporters within the capital, intent on undermining the Republican government from within.
From Wiktionary
First applied in 1936 to rebel sympathizers inside Madrid when four columns of rebel troops were attacking that city
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
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