Definitions

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

  • noun Plural form of mafia.

Etymologies

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Examples

  • The Communist Party is losing its grip, and the only institutions that function effectively are the various "mafias" that dominate both crime and commerce.

    The Cold War Is Gone; the Thriller Lives On 2008

  • For just when police from Bologna to Brooklyn believe that they may have a grip on the Sicilian Mafia and its cousins, just when Pablo Escobar has been gunned down, new "mafias" have popped up as if the earth bad been sown with dragons 'teeth.

    Global Mafia 2008

  • Throughout the early 1990s "mafias" that had grown out of the Soviet-era black market were quickly building up capital -- and power.

    The Capital Of Crime 2008

  • Throughout his campaign for president Ahmadinejad referred to various "mafias" controlling many sectors of Iran's economy and his determination to break apart these controlling blocs.

    Collision Course: The United States and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran 2006

  • Throughout his campaign for president Ahmadinejad referred to various "mafias" controlling many sectors of Iran's economy and his determination to break apart these controlling blocs.

    Collision Course: The United States and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran 2006

  • Given Thailand’s habit of coups and new constitutions, the mafias are the only thing holding that country together.

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

  • "Why would [Take-Two] foist a game on their targeted audience of young people wherein they will indoctrinate a new generation into directly associating Italians and Italian Americans with violent, murderous organized crime, to the exclusion of all of the other 'mafias' run by other ethnic and racial groups," says UNICO's Andre DiMino said.

    Destructoid 2010

  • Sophisticated "mafias" have turned their eyes south and are behind the huge increase in the number of rhinos poached in South Africa over the past three years.

    iac world news feed 2010

  • Just like the various investment and entrepreneurial "mafias" from PayPal, etc., we're going to start seeing more ex-Google,

    TechCrunch Cyan Banister 2010

  • "Why would [Take Two] foist a game on their targeted audience of young people wherein they will indoctrinate a new generation into directly associating Italians and Italian Americans with violent, murderous organized crime, to the exclusion of all of the other 'mafias' run by other ethnic and racial groups," DiMino said.

    Joystiq 2010

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