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troop - 7 dictionary results

troop

  [troop] ,
Use troop in a Sentence
–noun
1. an assemblage of persons or things; company; band.
2. a great number or multitude: A whole troop of children swarmed through the museum.
3. Military. an armored cavalry or cavalry unit consisting of two or more platoons and a headquarters group.
4. troops, a body of soldiers, police, etc.: Mounted troops quelled the riot.
5. a unit of Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts usually having a maximum of 32 members under the guidance of an adult leader.
6. a herd, flock, or swarm.
7. Archaic. a band or troupe of actors.
–verb (used without object)
8. to gather in a company; flock together.
9. to come, go, or pass in great numbers; throng.
10. to walk, as if in a march; go: to troop down to breakfast.
11. to walk, march, or pass in rank or order: The students trooped into the auditorium.
12. to associate or consort (usually fol. by with).
–verb (used with object)
13. British Military. to carry (the flag or colors) in a ceremonial way before troops.
14. Obsolete. to assemble or form into a troop or troops.
Origin:
1535–45; < F troupe, OF trope, prob. back formation from tropel herd, flock (F troupeau), equiv. to trop- (< Gmc; see thorp ) + -el ≪ L -ellus dim. suffix

Synonyms:
1. body, group, crowd. See company. 2. crowd, herd, flock, swarm, throng. 7. Troop, troupe both mean a band, company, or group. Troop has various meanings as indicated in the definitions above. With the spelling troupe the word has the specialized meaning of a company of actors, singers, acrobats, or other performers. 8. collect. 9. swarm.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To troop
troop   (trōōp)   
n.  
  1. A group or company of people, animals, or things. See Synonyms at band2, flock1.
    1. A group of soldiers.
    2. troops Military units; soldiers.
    3. A unit of cavalry, armored vehicles, or artillery in a European army, corresponding to a platoon in the U.S. Army.
  3. A unit of at least five Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts under the guidance of an adult leader.
  4. A great many; a lot.
intr.v.   trooped, troop·ing, troops
  1. To move or go as a throng.
  2. To assemble or move in crowds.
  3. To consort; associate.

[French troupe, from Old French trope, probably from Vulgar Latin *troppu-.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Troop

Troop\, n. See Boy scout, above.

Troop

Troop\, v. t.

To troop the colors or colours (Mil.), in the British army, to perform a ceremony consisting essentially in carrying the colors, accompained by the band and escort, slowly before the troops drawn up in single file and usually in a hollow square, as in London on the sovereign's birthday. Trooper \Troop"er\, n. A mounted policeman. [Australia]

Note: The black troopers of Queensland are a regiment of aboriginal police, employed chiefly for dispersing wild aborigines who encroach on sheep runs.

Troop

Troop\, n. [F. troupe, OF. trope, trupe, LL. troppus; of uncertain origin; cf. Icel. [thorn]orp a hamlet, village, G. dorf a village, dial. G. dorf a meeting. Norw. torp a little farm, a crowd, E. thorp. Cf. Troupe.]

1. A collection of people; a company; a number; a multitude.

That which should accompany old age -- As honor, love, obedience, troops of friends -- I must not look to have. --Shak.

2. Soldiers, collectively; an army; -- now generally used in the plural.

Farewell the plumed troop, and the big wars. --Shak.

His troops moved to victory with the precision of machines. --Macaulay.

3. (Mil.) Specifically, a small body of cavalry, light horse, or dragoons, consisting usually of about sixty men, commanded by a captain; the unit of formation of cavalry, corresponding to the company in infantry. Formerly, also, a company of horse artillery; a battery.

4. A company of stageplayers; a troupe. --W. Coxe.

5. (Mil.) A particular roll of the drum; a quick march.

Troop

Troop\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Trooped; p. pr. & vb. n. Trooping.]

1. To move in numbers; to come or gather in crowds or troops. "Armies . . . troop to their standard." --Milton.

2. To march on; to go forward in haste.

Nor do I, as an enemy to peace, Troop in the throngs of military men. --Shak.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : troop
Spanish: tropa,
German: die Truppe,
Japanese: 軍隊
More Translations »

troop  (n.)
1545, "body of soldiers," from M.Fr. troupe, from O.Fr. trope "band of people, company, troop" (13c.), probably from Frank. *throp "assembly, gathering of people" (cf. O.E. ðorp, O.N. thorp "village," see thorp). OED derives the O.Fr. word from L. troppus "flock," which is of unknown origin but may be from the Gmc. source. The verb is attested from 1565, "to assemble;" meaning "to march" is recorded from 1592; that of "to go in great numbers, to flock" is from 1610. Trooper "soldier in the cavalry" is first attested 1640; extended to "mounted policeman" (1858, in Australian) then to "state policeman" (U.S.) by 1911.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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