Partisans generally act as irregular troops of a central government, such as those Soviet partisans behind German lines on the Eastern front in World War II. They may operate as guerillas, or more like a regular armed force, or either at different times.

Guerillas is an umbrella term for those forces pursuing asymmetric warfare, which precludes large scale combat, rather relying on hit and run tactics, ambush and dispersion.

It is not always a clear definition, as partisan imparts a legitimacy lacking to 'guerilla' which the opposing force may not wish to impart to their enemy.