troop

1 of 2

noun

1
a
: a group of soldiers
b
: a cavalry unit corresponding to an infantry company
c
troops plural : armed forces, soldiers
2
: a collection of people or things : crew sense 2
3
: a flock of mammals or birds
4
: the basic organizational unit of Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts under an adult leader

troop

2 of 2

verb

trooped; trooping; troops

intransitive verb

1
: to move or gather in crowds
2
: to go one's way : walk
3
: to spend time together : associate
4
: to move in large numbers

Examples of troop in a Sentence

Noun Where is his troop heading? a plan to withdraw troops a troop of enthusiastic children Verb We all trooped back inside. The kids trooped off to school.
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
As Israeli troops aim to take control of the Gaza-Egypt border crossing, officials in Cairo warn that the move would undermine the 1979 peace treaty. Hazem Balousha, Washington Post, 8 Mar. 2024 Hundreds of Ukrainian troops may have disappeared or been captured by the advancing Russian units, according to Western officials. Thomas Gibbons-Neff, New York Times, 7 Mar. 2024 The Lebanese authorities called for help, and a multinational peacekeeping force composed of American, French, British and Italian troops arrived in August 1982. Mireille Rebeiz, The Conversation, 7 Mar. 2024 What might be temporary setbacks for other Presidents (the chaotic pullout of troops from Afghanistan, the challenges of balancing American sympathies on different sides of the Israel-Gaza war) tend to become political turning points for him. Benjamin Wallace-Wells, The New Yorker, 6 Mar. 2024 The inscription marks the date of the Battle of Magdala, when British troops defeated Ethiopia’s emperor, Tewodros II, and seized thousands of cultural artifacts. Catherine Duncan, Smithsonian Magazine, 6 Mar. 2024 The Ukrainian National Guard engaged Russian forces outside the plant, but soon shelling from Russian tanks started a fire, which continued to burn as Russian troops blocked firefighters from entering the plant’s perimeter. Nataliya Gumenyuk, The Atlantic, 6 Mar. 2024 Iran initially responded to Soleimani’s killing with missile strikes against U.S. troops stationed at two bases in Iraq, which failed to kill any American soldiers. Peter Aitken, Fox News, 5 Mar. 2024 Israel said its troops fired warning shots to disperse the crowd. Helen Regan, CNN, 4 Mar. 2024
Verb
Otherwise, the hardy listeria bacteria will troop across surfaces to contaminate other products. Jon Healey, Los Angeles Times, 15 Feb. 2024 Members of staff from all over this large, wide-ranging vocational college have trooped down to meet the girl who wanted to learn about cutting up animals. Olivia Potts, Longreads, 15 Feb. 2024 And yet, every year, idealistic and ambitious young people troop off to make almost no money reporting on the world’s tragedies and failures. Sebastian Junger, National Review, 25 Jan. 2024 Dozens of residents trooped to the vicinity where some of the injured were being treated in ambulances. TIME, 17 Jan. 2024 On a Thursday evening in early November, a pack of Steelers fans poured out from a bar in downtown Pittsburgh and trooped past the Benedum Center for the Performing Arts, a stately old movie palace turned theater and concert hall. Marley Marius, Vogue, 16 Jan. 2024 My family trooped back in and gathered on the ground floor. Maram Humaid, Harper's Magazine, 9 Oct. 2023 Journalists trooped through the apartment in groups. Ian Parker, The New Yorker, 7 Aug. 2023 As the campers trooped to the ropes course, 10-year-old Emma Brackins told a counselor that the scariest part of the course wasn’t the zip line, like some kids said. Angela Roberts, Baltimore Sun, 10 Aug. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'troop.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle French trope, troupe company, herd, of Germanic origin; akin to Old English thorp, throp village — more at thorp

First Known Use

Noun

1545, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb

1565, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of troop was in 1545

Dictionary Entries Near troop

Cite this Entry

“Troop.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/troop. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

troop

1 of 2 noun
1
a
: a group of soldiers
b
2
: a collection of people or things : company
3
: a flock of mammals or birds
4
: a unit of Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts under an adult leader

troop

2 of 2 verb
: to move or gather in crowds

More from Merriam-Webster on troop

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