fifth column

1. 1.

   a subversive group that supports the enemy and engages in espionage or sabotage; an enemy in your midst

   SynonymsTrojan horse

   Broaderunit

Questions about fifth column

What does fifth column mean?

fifth column means "a subversive group that supports the enemy and engages in espionage or sabotage; an enemy in your midst".

What is another word for fifth column?

Close synonyms include Trojan horse. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is fifth column a common word?

fifth column is banded "Rare" — specialist or archaic — most readers will not have met it. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.