Red Brigades
2
9.9
- noun
- Offensive
- The Red Brigades are not a national Liberation Army.
- the Red Brigades in Italy
Examples
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I want to do a book about the Red Brigades, but it's been like chasing smoke.
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Did the Red Brigades organize this?
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I think you know more about the Red Brigades than you think you know.
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No, a novel about the Red Brigades.
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What I know about the Red Brigades can be read in any magazine or newspaper.
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I know you're writing a book about the Red Brigades, and I want it.
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ITALO: The only way she could know is if she had some kind of connection with the Red Brigades.
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It's the Red Brigades, the Brigate Rosse.
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In the 1970s and 1980s, a number of brutal terrorist organizations arose in democratic countries: the Red Brigades in Italy, the Provisional Irish Republican Army in Ireland and the United Kingdom, the Japanese Red Army in Japan, and the Red Army Faction (or Baader-Meinhof Gang) in West Germany.
Academic text (2005) -
The Red Brigades were known for their violent tactics, including kidnappings and assassinations.
Synonyms
1
9.9
A short name for a violent political group in Italy that carried out attacks
An Italian group in the 1970s and 1980s that used violence to try to change politics
Surface Forms
Morphology
The combination of 'red' (communist/revolutionary) and 'brigade' (an organized group) allows a B1 learner who knows both words to infer that this refers to an organized leftist/militant group. However, the proper-name status and the specific historical and violent connotations (Italian Marxist-Leninist organization, terrorism, kidnappings) are not derivable from the parts alone, so the meaning is only partially predictable.
Etymology
Red Brigades is a name that gives a clear picture: red stands for 'communist' politics and brigades means 'small military groups'. That's why the name fits a violent, armed group with political goals.