al-Qaeda

or al-Qai·da

[ al-key-duh, ‑-kahy-duh ]

noun

1. a radical Sunni Muslim organization dedicated to the elimination of a Western presence in Arab countries and militantly opposed to Western foreign policy: founded by Osama bin Laden in 1988.

al-Qaeda

/ ælˈkaɪdə; ælkɑːˈiːdə /

noun

1. a loosely-knit militant Islamic organization led and funded by Osama bin Laden, by whom it was established in the late 1980s from Arab volunteers who had fought the Soviet troops previously based in Afghanistan; known or believed to be behind a number of operations against Western, especially US, interests, including bomb attacks on two US embassies in Africa in 1998 and the destruction of the World Trade Center in New York in 2001

Al Qaeda

1. An Islamic terrorist network headed by Osama bin Laden . It is generally believed to have been responsible for the September 11 attacks .

Word History and Origins

Origin of al-Qaeda¹

From the Arabic word al-qa'ida, literally, the base

Word History and Origins

Origin of al-Qaeda¹

C20: from Arabic al-qā`ida the base

Example Sentences

The influential al Qaeda propagandist, who was born in New Mexico, died in a U.S. drone strike later that year.

From The Daily Beast

The al Qaeda-linked gunmen shot back, but only managed to injure one officer before they were taken out.

From The Daily Beast

Two witnesses outside the Charlie Hebdo office building quoted the Kouachi brothers claiming they were members of al Qaeda.

From The Daily Beast

There is a particular focus in the magazine on attacking the United States, which al Qaeda calls a top target.

From The Daily Beast

Al Qaeda has never managed to carve out a large chunk of real estate to call its own—in Afghanistan it was a guest of the Taliban.

From The Daily Beast

To date, we've arrested or otherwise dealt with many key commanders of al Qaeda.

From Project Gutenberg

We didn't drive al Qaeda out of their safe haven in Afghanistan only to let them set up a new safe haven in a free Iraq.

From Project Gutenberg

The leadership of al Qaeda has great influence in Afghanistan and supports the Taliban regime in controlling most of that country.

From Project Gutenberg

The crew and passengers quickly subdued the man, who had been trained by al Qaeda and was armed with explosives.

From Project Gutenberg

The first to see our determination were the Taliban, who made Afghanistan the primary training base of al Qaeda killers.

From Project Gutenberg