Meaning & use
armed rebellion
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Meanings
nouncountable
An organized attempt by a group of people to fight with weapons against their government or ruler.
Grammar: Countable: use 'an armed rebellion' or 'armed rebellions'; often followed by 'against'.
Patterns
- an armed rebellion against something
- launch an armed rebellion
- crush an armed rebellion
The armed rebellion against the colonial government lasted almost three years.
Troops were sent to the north to put down an armed rebellion.
After the election was canceled, an armed rebellion broke out in several provinces.
noununcountable
The act of fighting with weapons against a government or ruler.
Grammar: Uncountable here: talk about 'armed rebellion' as a general activity, with no article.
Patterns
- take up armed rebellion
- a call for armed rebellion
The party rejected armed rebellion and chose to work through the courts instead.
For years the group talked about armed rebellion, but it never had enough weapons.
Word forms
| plural | armed rebellions |
|---|
Common combinations
- an armed rebellion against the state
- The court charged them with leading an armed rebellion against the state.
- crush an armed rebellion
- The new president promised to crush any armed rebellion within weeks.
- an armed rebellion breaks out
- An armed rebellion broke out in the mountains after the arrests.
- raise an army for an armed rebellion
- He spent two years raising an army for an armed rebellion.
- a failed armed rebellion
- A failed armed rebellion left hundreds of families homeless.
Synonyms and how they differ
- uprising
- An uprising can be peaceful at first and often involves ordinary people; an armed rebellion is specifically a fight with weapons.
- insurgency
- Insurgency is more technical and suggests a long campaign by small groups; armed rebellion is broader and can be short.
- revolt
- A revolt can be a sudden, unplanned refusal to obey, while an armed rebellion usually needs planning and weapons.
Opposites
Word family
- rebel noun
- a person who fights against a government or ruler
- rebel verb
- to fight against a government or refuse to obey
- rebellious adjective
- refusing to obey rules or authority
- rebelliously adverb
- in a way that shows refusal to obey
Commonly confused: armed rebellion or revolution? armed rebellion or riot?
armed rebellion vs revolution
A revolution usually aims to replace the whole political system and can involve many groups; an armed rebellion is often smaller and may only seek specific changes.
armed rebellion vs riot
A riot is a violent public disturbance that is not usually organized as a military campaign, whereas an armed rebellion is organized and political.
Practice
The rebels ______ an armed rebellion against the government in 1987.
Choose one answer.
'Launch an armed rebellion' takes a direct object with no preposition, so 'launched' fits. 'Launched into' means starting something like a speech, and 'launched at/for' would need a different object.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “armed rebellion”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.