al Qaeda
528
9.2
- proper noun
- /æl kaɪˈdɑː/
- NSFW
- Look at anywhere Al Qaeda has appeared, and you will find the same situation.
- Taliban and al Qaeda
Examples
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And like Washington, Iran considers al Qaeda in Iraq to be an enemy and seeks to eliminate it.
Academic text (2009) -
In the long term, this initiative aims to contain the Taliban and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, although in the short to medium term, it is expected to fuel more fighting on Pakistani soil.
Academic text (2011) -
New letters claim nuclear bombs have been hidden all over America by Al-Qaeda.
Blog text (33) -
Apparently, Al Qaeda actually released a video that suggested they wanted Kerry to win.
Blog text (5) -
Although AQAP commanders answer directly to al Qaeda's leadership, they have regional autonomy.
Academic text (2011) -
Al Qaeda's focus was on integration, unity, growth, and gaining strategic leadership in the militant milieu.
Academic text (2011) -
Given the current ability of nonstate actors like al Qaeda to wage war, we need to make corresponding changes in how we approach this from a legal standpoint.
Academic text (2009) -
Over the past decade, SEALs and other special-forces teams have hunted, captured, or killed 2,000 Al Qaeda agents; yet bin Laden remained at large.
Academic text (2011) -
The FBI is constantly monitoring threats from al Qaeda to prevent potential attacks in the United States.
-
During the 2001 hearing, officials discussed the implications of al Qaeda operations worldwide.
Synonyms
542
9.3
An armed Islamic group that plans terrorist attacks against the United States and other countries
87
7.5
A violent Islamic group that plans attacks around the world
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 + Qaeda
This is a proper name referring to a specific militant organization and requires world knowledge rather than compositional decoding. The constituents are non‑English (Arabic 'al-' = 'the' and a transliterated element) and their literal combination ('the base'/'the foundation') does not directly communicate the group's meaning or violent activities to a B1 learner, so the overall sense is not derivable from the parts.
Etymology
Al Qaeda comes from Arabic and literally means 'the base' or 'the foundation'. It was used because the group began as a 'base' where fighters and planners met and trained, so today the name refers to that militant group.