cuadrilla

American  

[kwah-dree-yuh, -dreel-yuh, kwah-three-lyah, -three-yah] / kwɑˈdri jə, -ˈdril jə, kwɑˈðri ljɑ, -ˈðri jɑ /

noun

• cuadrillas
  plural

1. the group of assistants serving a matador in a bullfight, consisting of three banderilleros and two picadors.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• cuadrillas
  plural

Etymology

Origin of cuadrilla

1835–45; < Spanish: group, gang (originally one of four groups), diminutive of cuadra < Latin quadra side of a square

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

cuadrilla cuadrillas

In a cuadrilla there are positions to be won.

From Time Magazine Archive

Then one probably becomes apprenticed to a cuadrilla, or troupe, under some great matador.

From Time Magazine Archive

Thus the first time Mauro ever appeared before a public assembly was a chief espada of a cuadrilla of his own, at Valladolid.

From The Red-Blooded Heroes of the Frontier by Edgar Beecher Bronson

Why, her brother belonged to his cuadrilla; and the girl was with him in the camp.

From The Guerilla Chief And other Tales by Mayne Reid

Lola Vergara could not have known of the capture which the robbers had accomplished; she could not be aware of my presence in the rear of the cuadrilla.

From The Guerilla Chief And other Tales by Mayne Reid

Thanks to their outreach in San Martín, they had been invited in November to march in the annual parade celebrating the cuadrillas.

From New York Times ● Jan. 16, 2024

Ernesto Rey, the cattleman, has ridden in the cuadrillas since 1970 as a Galán, or Spaniard.

From New York Times ● Jan. 16, 2024

Each horseman inherits his role from an older male relative, making the cuadrillas, as the battles are called, the domain of just a few families.

From New York Times ● Jan. 16, 2024

As there are always two matadors with their respective cuadrillas engaged, this makes in all fourteen bull-fighters.

From Wild Spain (Espa?a agreste) Records of Sport with Rifle, Rod, and Gun, Natural History Exploration by Walter J. Buck