column Идиома

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the fifth column

the column in a newspaper that tells about the media The fifth column often comments on the need for fair reporting.

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Fifth columnist

(UK) A fifth columnist is a member of a subversive organisation who tries to help an enemy invade.

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fifth column|column|fifth

n. phr. A group or organization within a country that works to bring about the country's downfall, usually through acts of espionage and sabotage. The Communist party in the United States was considered by Senator McCarthy to be the Soviet Union's fifth column.

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fifth column

fifth column
A secret subversive group that works against a country or organization from the inside, as in The government feared that there was a fifth column working to oppose its policies during the crisis. This term was invented by General Emilio Mola during the Spanish Civil War in a radio broadcast on October 16, 1936, in which he said that he had una quinta columna (“a fifth column”) of sympathizers for General Franco among the Republicans holding the city of Madrid, and it would join his four columns of troops when they attacked. The term was popularized by Ernest Hemingway and later extended to any traitorous insiders.