the Pentagon
- proper noun
- /ðə ˈpɛntəɡɒn/
- Many policies affecting national security are developed at the Pentagon in Arlington.
- the Pentagon announced
- the Pentagon's budget
- the Pentagon's plan
So it's the State Department, it's the Pentagon, it's the CIA and the IC.
- So it's the State Department, it's the Pentagon, it's the CIA and the IC.
- And when we went into the Pentagon, it was wild because.
- Herb York was the first chief scientist for the Pentagon, for DARPA, then called ARPA.
- He's like the like the Pentagon's internal FBI.
- We spend a trillion dollars a year on the Pentagon.
- He didn't like the scene in my movie that shows his departure from the Pentagon.
- They found a loophole and Christopher Mellon walked that evidence out of the Pentagon.
- The missile that I write about, the ICBM that hits the Pentagon.
- So then he goes to the Pentagon Inspector General, because NSA is ADOD agency.
- And you know, the Pentagon is a huge, huge place and they move from the Pentagon to the defense contractors.
- If you're not going to release the Americans, then the Pentagon is going to come in and they will not negotiate.
- So Musk is basically trying to arrange for private meetings with the Pentagon.
- And the information came from both the nuclear bunker beneath the Pentagon and the nuclear bunker beneath STRATCOM.
- Over the past two years, we have seen a back and forth between Congress and the Pentagon in regards to UAP, meaning UFOs.
- Reminder the people dying, plus the symbols of American greatness, World Trade Center and and the the Pentagon.
Examples
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The Secretary of Defense gave a speech at the Pentagon about military readiness.
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The report was submitted to the Pentagon for review before the meeting.
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I worked for the Pentagon right after the war.
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I have a friend at the Pentagon.
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Secure line to the Pentagon is now open.
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Are your sources at the Pentagon still good?
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I know a colonel in the Pentagon.
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Sitting down in the situation room in the Pentagon, General Smith asked for the latest update from the theater.
Fiction book (1994) -
Following Brown's trip, the Pentagon announced that it would consider selling certain kinds of military equipment to China.
Academic text (2002) -
The budget process has become a gauntlet that the Pentagon must run yearly.
Academic text (1990)
Synonyms
A large five-sided building in Washington, D.C. that is the main office of the United States military
A part of the United States government that protects the country and manages the military
A United States government office that protects national security and manages the armed forces
A US government department that protects the country and runs the armed forces
A United States government department that protects the country's security and runs the armed forces
Surface Forms
Morphology
the + Pentagon
The phrase is simply the definite article plus a proper name whose referent is the U.S. Department of Defense headquarters; if a learner knows the constituent 'Pentagon' in its institutional sense, the overall meaning follows directly. The article 'the' adds no idiomatic sense, and using a place-name to refer to an institution is a common, cross-linguistic pattern, so this is readily understandable to learners who know the headword.
Etymology
The Pentagon is named for the shape of its five-sided building, which looks like a pentagon and was built near Washington, D.C. Because the US 'Department of Defense' has its main offices there, people also use the Pentagon to mean the whole department.