fifth column

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

In fact, because many children didn’t show symptoms of the infection or had only mild, flu-like symptoms, they functioned almost like an undetected fifth column in spreading the virus to adults.

From Los Angeles Times

He lauded protesters and spoke directly to soldiers, telling them the war was illegal, perhaps hoping to inspire a fifth column — a term for groups of internal resisters, open or clandestine.

From Los Angeles Times

He paints his Jewish opponents as weak, self-hating “leftists,” and Arab politicians as a potential fifth column of terrorist sympathizers.

From Seattle Times

That hostile takeover maneuvers very much like a fifth column, operating in a highly calculated fashion, more akin to an occupying force than to an open group engaged in the usual give-and-take of politics.

From Salon

Though King said he has mellowed with age — he turned 40 recently — Beau’s very moniker nods to his ideology: A fifth column is a double-agent who seeks to sabotage a group or country from within.

From Los Angeles Times