battalion

noun

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bat·tal·ion | \ bə-ˈtal-yən

Definition of battalion

1 : a considerable body of troops organized to act together : army

2 : a military unit composed of a headquarters and two or more companies, batteries, or similar units

3 : a large group

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Synonyms for battalion

Synonyms

Examples of battalion in a Sentence

a battalion of angry protesters the nation's battalions were forced to fight on two fronts simultaneously

Recent Examples on the Web Dan Tyk, battalion chief at the North Shore Fire Department, said some occupants were allowed to retrieve their belongings from the building, but the complex is uninhabitable due to smoke damage. — Eddie Morales, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Firefighters and police rescued multiple people from a burning apartment complex in Brown Deer," 2 Apr. 2021 Jeff McCausland, who commanded a Gulf War combat battalion and recently wrote about the military's failure to keep out extremists. — Ashley Fantz, CNN, "The military has long had an extremism problem. What will it do now to finally solve it?," 31 Mar. 2021 Those units are typically built around a Marine infantry battalion, Navy amphibious ships, helicopters, F-35B fighters and artillery and deployable to hotspots around the world, capable of operating at sea, in the air and on land. — Andrew Dyer, San Diego Union-Tribune, "Marines put new amphibious vehicle through its paces as scathing report shows need for it," 27 Mar. 2021 Brown became a battalion surgeon near the front lines and later served at an Army hospital in Tokyo. — Richard Goldstein, New York Times, "Bobby Brown, Yankee Infielder Turned Cardiologist, Is Dead at 96," 25 Mar. 2021 As Rudling recounts, the battalion’s leader, Erich Körner, dispatched his men, as well as reinforcements from the Dirlewanger Brigade, a German unit known for its brutality, to Khatyn. — Meilan Solly, Smithsonian Magazine, "Remembering the Khatyn Massacre," 22 Mar. 2021 An ambulance took the wounded man to Memorial Regional Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, said Michael Kane, fire rescue battalion chief. — David Lyons, sun-sentinel.com, "Man killed in shooting aboard Broward Transit bus," 21 Mar. 2021 The group was given Delta Force, a SEAL team, and a rotating Ranger battalion for specific missions. — Mark Bowden, The Atlantic, "How Special Ops Became the Solution to Everything," 12 Mar. 2021 Then a battalion-sized reserve unit of 300 soldiers can be immediately called up. — Reid Forgrave, Star Tribune, "Minnesota National Guard 'ready' to keep peace for Derek Chauvin trial," 9 Mar. 2021

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'battalion.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.