pentagon

[pen-tuh-gon, -guhn]

noun

1. a polygon having five angles and five sides.

2. the Pentagon,

   1. a building in Arlington, Virginia, having a plan in the form of a regular pentagon, containing most U.S. Defense Department offices.

   2. the U.S. Department of Defense; the U.S. military establishment.

Pentagon

¹

/ ˈpɛntəˌɡɒn /

noun

1. the five-sided building in Arlington, Virginia, that houses the headquarters of the US Department of Defense

2. the military leadership of the US

pentagon

²

/ ˈpɛntəˌɡɒn, pɛnˈtæɡənəl /

noun

1. a polygon having five sides

pentagon

1. A polygon having five sides.

Pentagon

¹

1. An immense five-sided building in Virginia, just outside Washington, D.C., that serves as headquarters for the Department of Defense.

pentagon

²

1. A polygon having five sides.

The term is often used to refer to the Department of Defense or the military: “The Pentagon agreed today to submit the modified weapons plan to the president.”

The Pentagon was severely damaged by the September 11 attacks.

The Pentagon is a huge five-sided building near Washington, D.C., that contains offices of the Department of Defense.

Other Word Forms

• pentagonal adjective
• pentagonally adverb
• subpentagonal adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of Pentagon¹

1560–70; < Late Latin pentagōnum < Greek pentágōnon, noun use of neuter of pentágōnos five-angled. See penta-, -gon

Example Sentences

The top U.S. diplomat held his first meeting with President Claudia Sheinbaum a day after the dramatic Pentagon strike raised the specter of a unilateral U.S. military attack on suspected cartel targets in Mexico.

From Los Angeles Times

The Pentagon declined to offer further comment or share the legal advice it obtained before carrying out the strike.

From BBC

From massive, underwater torpedoes to state-of-the-art laser weapons that shoot down drones, China's latest military parade will now be broken down and analysed by Pentagon experts and defence officials around the world.

From BBC

As if to underscore the point, the Pentagon ordered 4,000 Marines and sailors to the waters of Latin America and the Caribbean, alongside Navy destroyers, reconnaissance aircraft and a nuclear-powered missile cruiser.

From Los Angeles Times

On Friday, the Pentagon confirmed that those troops who were previously in the US capital unarmed, would begin to carry weapons.

From BBC