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PLA

American

abbreviation

People's Liberation Army.

PLA British

abbreviation

Port of London Authority

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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.

Xi wants to avoid that so he can have "lasting influence with the PLA," Hart writes.

From BBC • Mar. 13, 2026

Subsequent probes ousted a loose grouping of officers, led by Zhang’s perceived rivals, who once served with a PLA formation in the southeastern province of Fujian, a power base for Xi.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 8, 2026

"The detention of Zhang Youxia was the capstone arrest of the greatest series of purges in the history of China's PLA," experts from the Center for Strategic and International Studies wrote in a note.

From Barron's • Mar. 3, 2026

He also said that PLA troops had been "loyal to the Party... and proven themselves capable and dependable".

From BBC • Feb. 11, 2026

The PLA remains one of the world’s largest and most formidable armed forces, with an estimated two million personnel operating advanced armaments from stealth fighters to aircraft carriers.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 28, 2026

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023