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

Last Updated: 1 Oct 2024