expeditionary

[ek-spi-dish-uh-ner-ee]

adjective

1. pertaining to or composing an expedition.

   an expeditionary force.

Other Word Forms

• preexpeditionary adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of expeditionary¹

First recorded in 1700–10; expedition + -ary

Example Sentences

The United States Marines are the country’s elite shock troops and an expeditionary force that specializes in amphibious assaults.

From Salon

Chinese records appear to first mention the island in AD239, when an emperor dispatched an expeditionary force to it - a fact Beijing uses to back its territorial claim.

From BBC

Located on the southern edge of Albuquerque, the base is home to the 377th Air Base Wing, which conducts nuclear operations and trains and equips expeditionary forces.

From Seattle Times

The Houthis are not known to operate an expeditionary naval fleet, nor do they have access to satellites or other sophisticated means of controlling long-distance drones.

From Seattle Times

A British expeditionary force was about to sail across the English Channel and link up with French forces fighting in Belgium.

From Literature