basaji

English

Etymology

From Persian بسیجی (basiji, “member of the Basij”), from بسیج (basij, “Basij, volunteer army”).

Noun

basaji pl (plural only)

1. A class of low-ranking Iranian foot soldiers.
   • 2006, Sai Felicia Krishna-Hensel, Global cooperation: challenges and opportunities in the twenty-first century, →ISBN, page 116:

     In other parts of the world, soldiers have also been willing to commit suicide in bombing another army, most notably the Japanese kamikaze in World War II and the Iranian basaji during the Iran-Iraq War