Definition of "jihad" []

• Islam An individual's striving for spiritual self-perfection. (noun)
• Islam A Muslim holy war or spiritual struggle against infidels. (noun)
• A crusade or struggle: "The war against smoking is turning into a jihad against people who smoke” ( Fortune). (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "A British Muslim women's group has launched a "jihad against violence", in a bid to reclaim the term jihad from extremists."
• "Aman Mojadidi Mr. Mojadidi's use of the word jihad in his work is no coincidence."
• "AB: The martial quality suggested by the term jihad also is found in much Buddhist terminology."