al Qaida
87
7.5
- proper noun
- /æl ˈkaɪdə/
- NSFW
- Stockton insisted that America is at war only with al-Qaida and its allies.
Examples
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Obama had been proclaiming in his campaigning that "Bin Laden is dead and Al-Qaida is finished."
Blog text (14) -
Al-Qaida and its leader Osama bin Laden were labeled as the main culprits and masterminds of the attack.
Academic text (2018) -
Like yesterday, not only was the leader of Al Qaida in Iraq killed, they knew who and why.
Blog text (21) -
We had already paid the investment and defeated Al-Qaida in Iraq.
Blog text (18) -
First, the information about individuals linked to al-Qaida was derived from classified sources.
Blog text (19) -
Al-Awlaki is considered to have deep and close links with al-Qaida, former U.S. intelligence officials have told The Associated Press.
Blog text (22) -
Khadr returned to Canada two years after being arrested as a presumed member of al-Qaida in November 2001.
Blog text (9) -
Afghanistan became a major hub for Islamic militancy and the sanctuary for Al-Qaida.
Academic text (2018) -
The Taliban and al-Qaida are teaming up and recruiting new terrorists to do us deadly harm, she reports.
Blog text (26) -
The al-Qaida organization has claimed responsibility for several high-profile attacks worldwide.
Synonyms
542
9.3
An armed Islamic group that plans terrorist attacks against the United States and other countries
528
9.2
A militant Islamic group that carries out terrorist attacks worldwide
83
8.6
An international violent group that follows extreme Islamic ideas and carries out terrorist attacks
82
8.6
A violent group that says it acts for Islam and often plans attacks against the United States
68
9.9
A violent Islamist group that carries out terrorist attacks worldwide
2
8.9
A violent group that plans attacks in many countries and supports other similar groups
Surface Forms
Morphology
al + Qaida
Although 'al' is the Arabic definite article and 'Qaida' (qaʿida) can mean 'base' or 'foundation', the name 'al Qaida' is a borrowed proper noun whose specific meaning as a militant terrorist organization is not derivable from the literal constituents. Understanding it requires cultural and political knowledge rather than knowing the individual words, so a B1 learner who only knows the parts would not reliably infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
Al Qaida comes from Arabic and literally means 'the base' or 'the foundation'. It began as a word for a place where fighters met and trained, so the name came to be used for the group that planned and carried out violent attacks.