shock troops
plural noun
1
: troops especially suited and chosen for offensive work because of their high morale, training, and discipline
2
: a group of people militant in pressing for a cause
Examples of shock troops in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Everyone remembers the shock troops of Jan. 6, the hundreds of Trump supporters that physically descended on the Capitol and tried to prevent the certification of Joe Biden’s victory by force.
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New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 29 Mar. 2024
Inmates of asylums were taken to the front and used as shock troops essentially condemned to die.
—Melik Kaylan, Forbes, 11 Dec. 2023
The precise plans for how and where the Hamas shock troops would attack were restricted to a tiny circle of elite military planners, amid what Western officials described as professional-grade operational security.
—Joby Warrick, Washington Post, 12 Nov. 2023
Hamas’s shock troops — 1,500 of which the Israeli government claims to have killed — did not go after military targets on Saturday, such as Tel Aviv’s international airport, internet infrastructure, power plants or key government and military installations.
—Marc Fisher, Washington Post, 11 Oct. 2023
See all Example Sentences for shock troops 
New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 29 Mar. 2024
Inmates of asylums were taken to the front and used as shock troops essentially condemned to die.
—Melik Kaylan, Forbes, 11 Dec. 2023
The precise plans for how and where the Hamas shock troops would attack were restricted to a tiny circle of elite military planners, amid what Western officials described as professional-grade operational security.
—Joby Warrick, Washington Post, 12 Nov. 2023
Hamas’s shock troops — 1,500 of which the Israeli government claims to have killed — did not go after military targets on Saturday, such as Tel Aviv’s international airport, internet infrastructure, power plants or key government and military installations.
—Marc Fisher, Washington Post, 11 Oct. 2023
See all Example Sentences for shock troops
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'shock troops.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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“Shock troops.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shock%20troops. Accessed 27 Jul. 2024.
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