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mafia

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Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

noun A crime syndicate.
noun A trusted group of associates, as of a political leader.
noun An entity which attempts to control a specified arena.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

See Mafia. The sense "entity which attempts to control a specified arena" makes an analogy to crime-syndicate mafias' attempts to control certain kinds of business in the regions in which they exist.

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Examples

I don't think the term 'mafia' was over the top and of course he did also deny any knowledge of wrongdoing.

Telegraph.co.uk - Telegraph online, Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph Telegraph Staff 2011
The term mafia has been used to describe exactly this effect before, especially when it comes to PayPal and now

Forbes.com: News Christopher Steiner 2010
The term mafia has been used to describe exactly this effect before, especially when it comes to PayPal and now

Forbes.com: News Christopher Steiner 2010
Instead the term mafia must be used very carefully in Italy.

National Catholic Reporter 2009
In 1890, the police chief in New Orleans was killed and that was the first time on record that the word 'mafia' was used.

Ellen Sterling: Las Vegas' New Mob Museum Tells An All-American Story Ellen Sterling 2012
They say that Mr. Karzai's suspected role in the drug trade, as well as what they describe as the mafia-like way that he lords over southern Afghanistan, makes him a malevolent force.

msnbc.com: Top msnbc.com headlines 2009
The movie The Godfather was soon to be released, and Joe Columbo’s antidiscrimination league was making sure that the word mafia would not be used in the picture.

Me, The Mob, And The Music Tommy James 2010
The movie The Godfather was soon to be released, and Joe Columbo’s antidiscrimination league was making sure that the word mafia would not be used in the picture.

Me, The Mob, And The Music Tommy James 2010
The movie The Godfather was soon to be released, and Joe Columbo’s antidiscrimination league was making sure that the word mafia would not be used in the picture.

Me, The Mob, And The Music Tommy James 2010
Thailand tried to remove the mafia from the government in the early 1990s and it collapsed their economy and those of their neighbors.

Matthew Yglesias » Conservative Women’s Group Cites Small Petrodictatorship as Ideal Form of Government 2009

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Comments

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Prolagus commented on the word mafia

Weirdnet calls! Last one!

April 6, 2008
whichbe commented on the word mafia

In Old Arabic, 'mafia' means 'sanctuary.'

May 7, 2008
Prolagus commented on the word mafia

Song quotation on mannequin.

September 29, 2008
Prolagus commented on the word mafia

Now a kinda pasta with fisha.

August 25, 2009