WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
noun.
a Nicaraguan counterrevolutionary guerrilla force from 1979 to 1990; it opposed a left-wing government, with support from the United States
Word Usage
"When Reagan said that the contras were the ‘moral equivalent’ of our founding fathers, he meant that the contras and the American revolutionaries were equivalent with respect to the morality of their actions."