troop

American  

[troop] / trup /

noun

• troops
  plural

1. an assemblage of persons or things; company; band.

   Synonyms:

   crowd, group, body

2. a great number or multitude.

   A whole troop of children swarmed through the museum.

   Synonyms:

   throng, swarm, flock, herd, crowd

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 single soldier, police officer, etc..

   Three troops were killed today by a roadside bomb.

6. a unit of Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts usually having a maximum of 32 members under the guidance of an adult leader.

7. a herd, flock, or swarm.

8. Archaic. a band or troupe of actors.

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verb (used without object)

• troops,
  present (3rd person singular)
• trooped,
  past participle,  past
• trooping
  present participle

1. to gather in a company; flock together.

   Synonyms:

   collect

2. to come, go, or pass in great numbers; throng.

   Synonyms:

   swarm

3. to walk, as if in a march; go.

   to troop down to breakfast.

4. to walk, march, or pass in rank or order.

   The students trooped into the auditorium.

5. to associate or consort (usually followed bywith ).

verb (used with object)

• troops,
  present (3rd person singular)
• trooped,
  past participle,  past
• trooping
  present participle

1. British Military. to carry (the flag or colors) in a ceremonial way before troops.

2. Obsolete. to assemble or form into a troop or troops.

troop British  

/ truːp /

noun

1. a large group or assembly; flock

   a troop of children

2. a subdivision of a cavalry squadron or artillery battery of about platoon size

3. (plural) armed forces; soldiers

4. a large group of Scouts comprising several patrols

5. an archaic spelling of troupe

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verb

1. (intr) to gather, move, or march in or as if in a crowd

2. (tr) military to parade (the colour or flag) ceremonially

   trooping the colour

3. slang (tr) military (formerly) to report (a serviceman) for a breach of discipline

4. (intr) an archaic word for consort

Synonym Usage

See company. 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.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• intertroop
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• troops
  plural

Participles

• trooping
  present
• trooped
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• troop
  simple
• troops
  simple
• have trooped
  perfect
• has trooped
  perfect
• am trooping
  progressive
• are trooping
  progressive
• is trooping
  progressive
• have been trooping
  perfect progressive
• has been trooping
  perfect progressive

Past

• trooped
  simple
• had trooped
  perfect
• was trooping
  progressive
• were trooping
  progressive
• had been trooping
  perfect progressive

Future

• will troop
  simple
• will have trooped
  perfect
• will be trooping
  progressive
• will have been trooping
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of troop

First recorded in 1535–45; from French troupe, Old French trope, probably back formation from tropel “herd, flock” ( French troupeau ), equivalent to trop- (from Germanic; see thorp) + -el, ultimately from Latin -ellus diminutive suffix

Explanation

A troop is a squad or team of soldiers. Your great grandfather might claim that his was the first army troop to march into France during World War II. Though it's correct to use the noun troop in the singular form, it's more common to see its plural, troops. You can also refer to a group of Girl or Boy Scouts this way: "My troop won a prize for selling the most Girl Scout cookies this year." To troop is also to march, so a military troop might troop down the street in the Veteran's Day parade. The root word is the Old French trope, "band of people."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

troop troops trooped trooping

Papperger said he expected the deal to be around 12.4 billion for the vehicles, primarily used as troop transports, and an additional service contract.

From Barron's ● Aug. 6, 2026

After a briefing in a nearby car park, we troop down to the water's edge clutching white plastic buckets to begin the hunt.

From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026

His advice is to pay attention to troop buildups—and to be ready to buy and sell quickly.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026

The Pentagon recently announced cutbacks to its troop presence in Europe and reduced commitments to alliance battle plans in the event of a war.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 18, 2026

She found the baboon troop still lingering by the stream.

From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer

No official statement has been released of the talks reportedly focusing on concrete actions to decommission Hamas's weapons - as well as the withdrawal of Israeli troops and humanitarian efforts.

From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026

Terekh noted down what times each day the Russians exchanged fire with Ukrainian troops, trying to find the best time to escape.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026

The Pretoria peace agreement ended the fighting and maintained an uneasy calm until late 2025, when fresh clashes between federal troops and Tigrayan forces erupted.

From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026

U.S. troops are routinely asked to face dangerous and adverse circumstances.

From Slate ● Aug. 14, 2026

Ludendorff launched his offensive on the morning of March 21, 1918, against British troops occupying the old Somme battlefield of 1916.

From "The War to End All Wars: World War I" by Russell Freedman

He then conducted an inspection of the troops and the colour of the regiment was then "trooped", or carried, through the ranks of foot guards.

From BBC ● Jun. 13, 2026

Many of crypto’s biggest players trooped to Abu Dhabi last week, hoping to secure deals with deep-pocketed Emirati investors who could inject fresh vigor into the industry following two months in the doldrums.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 14, 2025

But he has fond memories of the looks on his kids’ faces as they trooped into his little dungeon to kiss him good night.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 29, 2024

The colour, or regimental flag, which was trooped in the ceremony belongs to the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards.

From Reuters ● Jun. 17, 2023

When the midnight office was said in the church, the whole household trooped back to the Hall, where tables were spread for the feast.

From "The Door in the Wall" by Marguerite de Angeli

"People are trooping to the Hakimpur border check-post since Tuesday after hearing that crossover to Bangladesh is possible from this outpost," senior state police official Subrata Saha told AFP at the site.

From Barron's ● May 29, 2026

It was a seemingly endless succession of “Succession” winners trooping to the stage on a final triumphant night for the HBO drama.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 16, 2024

We're speaking on the morning after his ninth wedding anniversary, and there are builders trooping through the kitchen, so you'd forgive the singer if he was a little distracted.

From BBC ● Oct. 22, 2023

Sundays always started with the entire family trooping to St. Paul’s for Mass. The future president memorized the Lord’s Prayer and Apostles’ Creed, and could recite almost the entire Baltimore Catechism.

From Washington Post ● Jun. 18, 2021

At first light I was stirred from my slumber by the hullabaloo they made trooping down the tree.

From "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel

Related Words

• armed forces
• army
• contingent
• forces
• military
• soldiers