battalion
Americannoun
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Military. a ground force unit composed of a headquarters and two or more companies or similar units.
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an army in battle array.
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Often battalions. a large number of persons or things; force.
battalions of bureaucrats.
noun
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a military unit comprised of three or more companies or formations of similar size
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(usually plural) any large array
Other Word Forms
- subbattalion noun
Etymology
Origin of battalion
1580–90; < Middle French bataillon < Italian battaglione large squadron of soldiers, equivalent to battagli ( a ) battalia ( def. ) + -one augmentative suffix
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.
As a former career waiter, I say without hesitation that I would not want to go to war with a battalion of conscripted foodies.
Another company working for the defense ministry is focused on jamming systems to disable incoming unmanned platforms, which would be used by a new antidrone battalion.
In October, The Times reported that a battalion chief ordered firefighters to roll up their hoses and leave the burn area Jan. 2, even though crews warned that the ground was still smoldering.
From Los Angeles Times
In January 1966, he joined a battalion of U.S. soldiers seeking to rout North Vietnamese snipers and was standing next to the battalion commander when an officer paused to read a map.
From Los Angeles Times
Another battalion chief assigned to the LAFD’s risk management section knew about the complaints for months, but the department kept that information out of the after-action report.
From Los Angeles Times
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.
