troop
Americannoun
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troops
plural
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an assemblage of persons or things; company; band.
-
a great number or multitude.
A whole troop of children swarmed through the museum.
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Military. an armored cavalry or cavalry unit consisting of two or more platoons and a headquarters group.
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troops, a body of soldiers, police, etc..
Mounted troops quelled the riot.
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a single soldier, police officer, etc..
Three troops were killed today by a roadside bomb.
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a unit of Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts usually having a maximum of 32 members under the guidance of an adult leader.
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a herd, flock, or swarm.
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Archaic. a band or troupe of actors.
verb (used without object)
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troops,
present (3rd person singular)
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trooped,
past participle, past
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trooping
present participle
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to gather in a company; flock together.
- Synonyms:
- collect
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to come, go, or pass in great numbers; throng.
- Synonyms:
- swarm
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to walk, as if in a march; go.
to troop down to breakfast.
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to walk, march, or pass in rank or order.
The students trooped into the auditorium.
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to associate or consort (usually followed bywith ).
verb (used with object)
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troops,
present (3rd person singular)
-
trooped,
past participle, past
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trooping
present participle
-
British Military. to carry (the flag or colors) in a ceremonial way before troops.
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Obsolete. to assemble or form into a troop or troops.
noun
-
a large group or assembly; flock
a troop of children
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a subdivision of a cavalry squadron or artillery battery of about platoon size
-
(plural) armed forces; soldiers
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a large group of Scouts comprising several patrols
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an archaic spelling of troupe
verb
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(intr) to gather, move, or march in or as if in a crowd
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(tr) military to parade (the colour or flag) ceremonially
trooping the colour
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slang (tr) military (formerly) to report (a serviceman) for a breach of discipline
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(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
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
troopsimple
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troopssimple
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have troopedperfect
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has troopedperfect
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am troopingprogressive
-
are troopingprogressive
-
is troopingprogressive
-
have been troopingperfect progressive
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has been troopingperfect progressive
Past
-
troopedsimple
-
had troopedperfect
-
was troopingprogressive
-
were troopingprogressive
-
had been troopingperfect progressive
Future
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."
Vocabulary lists containing troop
Veterans Day Vocabulary
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Memorial Day: Words of Respect and Remembrance
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Commonly Confused Words, List 2
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
I read such stories aloud and adhered to commanding officers’ warnings to keep “notes to the boat” free of any references to stress at home, lest we lower troop morale.
From Salon ● Sep. 19, 2026
He estimates that arms sales to Russia and the troop deployment have netted the impoverished country close to $10bn.
From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2026
Now, he is quietly extending troop deployments in a sign that the conflict could drag well into next year, according to people familiar with the matter.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026
A 1951 defense pact, updated in 2004, already allows Washington to ramp up troop deployments and military installations on the island provided it informs Denmark and Greenland in advance.
From Barron's
Against the westering sun, the long shadows of the horsemen reached across the hill slope toward the flatlands where the small troop struggled onward.
From "The Book of Three" by Lloyd Alexander
UniCredit is one of the largest Western banks to operate in Russia and maintained operations there after Moscow sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022.
From Barron's ● Oct. 5, 2026
It is home to several US military bases and tens of thousands of American troops.
From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026
Okinawa is home to several US military bases and tens of thousands of American troops.
From BBC ● Oct. 4, 2026
It wasn’t clear to the troops what caused the radio outage during the trench assault, which could have stemmed from a hardware or software issue.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 3, 2026
In an attempt to gain control of this strategic channel, British, Australian, and New Zealand troops landed on the peninsula in April, while French troops staged a diversionary landing to the south.
From "The War to End All Wars: World War I" by Russell Freedman
After some cheese and crackers and forced bonhomie, we all trooped back to our desks and then commuted home.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 17, 2025
Soon, their third-grade “reading buddies” trooped in from a classroom down the hall, and the group settled in to make some art.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 19, 2025
The teams trooped off with the score 12-12 at half-time, but Griffin complained to referee Chris Kendall and was shown the yellow card.
From BBC ● Jun. 17, 2023
The colour, or regimental flag, which was trooped in the ceremony belongs to the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards.
From Reuters ● Jun. 17, 2023
A parade of dignitaries from the East trooped out to inspect the excavations.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
"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
People begin trooping in and it fills with 30 or so people.
From BBC ● Dec. 16, 2023
There was pleasure, of course, to be had in the sight of Manchester United, once again, reduced to chasing shadows, grasping hopelessly at air, its players’ heads hanging and its fans silently trooping away.
From New York Times ● Mar. 6, 2022
‘I expect us better eat now because Highboy and Willie liable to come trooping in any minute.’
From "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter" by Carson McCullers
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
