household troops

American  

plural noun

1. troops guarding or attending a sovereign or a sovereign's residence.

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household troops British  

plural noun

1. the infantry and cavalry regiments that carry out escort and guard duties for a head of state

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Etymology

Origin of household troops

First recorded in 1705–15

Example Sentences

In a recent book called Twentieth Century Socialism, the "household troops" made some startling admissions.

From Time Magazine Archive

And no soldiers did better service than the household troops of George Fox.

From Sketches of Reforms and Reformers, of Great Britain and Ireland by Stanton, Henry B.

The household troops, the only real soldiers who could be depended upon, were marching from London, and were likely to prove formidable antagonists to Monmouth’s ill-disciplined volunteers.

From Roger Willoughby A Story of the Times of Benbow by Webb, Archibald

Rao Phurkay has engaged to bring the Peishwa's household troops over, when the signal is given.

From At the Point of the Bayonet A Tale of the Mahratta War by Henty, G. A. (George Alfred)

These household troops were the scholarians, organized by Constantine I when he disbanded the praetorian guards who had upheld the cause of Maxentius.

From A History of Rome to 565 A. D. by Boak, Arthur Edward Romilly