How to Use sleeper cell in a Sentence

sleeper cell

noun
  • The refugee camps are thought to be full of sleeper cells, padlocked behind wire fencing.
    The Economist, 28 Mar. 2018
  • What would happen if resistant sleeper cells had emerged in Obama's White House?
    Fox News, 6 Sep. 2018
  • Thousands of fighters are scattered among the group’s sleeper cells, and have claimed attacks in both Iraq and neighboring Syria in recent months.
    Washington Post, 10 Jan. 2020
  • Already, there are signs that Islamic State’s sleeper cells are benefiting from the distraction, even in places far from the front lines.
    Nabih Bulos, Los Angeles Times, 13 Oct. 2019
  • But activists and residents say IS still has sleeper cells in Syria and Iraq and is laying the groundwork for an insurgency.
    Zeina Karam, The Seattle Times, 12 Feb. 2019
  • Also, Assyrians fear the mountain could be mined or shelter IS sleeper cells.
    Sarah El Deeb, The Christian Science Monitor, 3 Apr. 2018
  • Iraq declared victory against the Islamic State group in 2017, but the group continues to carry out attacks through sleeper cells.
    Washington Post, 7 Sep. 2019
  • Despite these battlefield defeats, IS sleeper cells have continued to launch attacks in Iraq and Syria.
    BostonGlobe.com, 8 Oct. 2019
  • Daniels is fascinating, a sleeper cell who is unlikely to end this presidency but could yet hasten its demise.
    Frank Rich, Daily Intelligencer, 14 Mar. 2018
  • The first is the low-probability but high-impact chance that Putin is hiding money here in the financial equivalent of sleeper cells, ready to slip out and buy influence when a crisis comes.
    Aaron Gilbreath, Longreads, 1 June 2018
  • Soldiers, residents and police warned us about Islamic State tunnels and sleeper cells.
    Molly Hennessy-Fiske, www.latimes.com, 18 Oct. 2017
  • Before retreating from its urban strongholds, Islamic State decentralized its command structure, set up sleeper cells, and dug tunnels in the vast desert that spans the two countries.
    Nancy A. Youssef, WSJ, 9 July 2018
  • The remaining militants have gone underground, putting the onus on intelligence agencies to track down sleeper cells and prevent attacks.
    Isabel Coles and, WSJ, 10 May 2018
  • No one claimed responsibility but IS sleeper cells have carried out such bombings.
    Mehmet Guzel, The Denver Post, 12 Oct. 2019
  • The Islamic State may also have undercover operatives or sleeper cells outside the Middle East.
    Margaret Coker, Eric Schmitt and Rukmini Callimachi, New York Times, 18 Oct. 2017
  • Al-Abadi met security officials in charge of Baghdad, ordering them to root out militant sleeper cells, according to a brief statement issued by his office.
    Murtada Faraj, The Seattle Times, 15 Jan. 2018
  • Although Iraqi forces are still engaged in mopping-up operations to rid pockets of the country of sleeper cells, terrorist attacks and civilian deaths have dropped sharply since the government declared victory over the Islamic State in December.
    Margaret Coker and Falih Hassan, New York Times, 2 May 2018
  • The militants have returned to the group’s guerrilla roots by embedding constellations of sleeper cells in both Iraq and Syria to routinely carry out ambushes, bombings and assassinations.
    John Walcott, Time, 19 Nov. 2019
  • The investigation also uncovered information about a potential American sleeper cell led by al-Qaeda in the United States.
    Ellen Gamerman, WSJ, 23 Oct. 2017
  • These sleeper cells and strike teams have carried out sniper attacks, ambushes, kidnappings and assassinations against security forces and community leaders.
    Eric Schmitt, New York Times, 19 Aug. 2019
  • The Trump administration’s Muslim ban looms even larger over 24: Legacy, reframing the series’ very premise—a terrorist organization about to unleash upward of 15 sleeper cells on American soil—as fearmongering rather than an adrenaline jolt.
    Willa Paskin, Slate Magazine, 3 Feb. 2017

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'sleeper cell.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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