flying column
nounMilitary.
(formerly) a force of troops equipped and organized to move swiftly and independently of a principal unit to which it is attached.
Origin of flying column
1First recorded in 1865–70
Words Nearby flying column
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use flying column in a sentence
There is something in the very words "flying column" to appease the impatient; wings in the air, a swoop upon the victim.
The Relief of Mafeking | Filson YoungSo your flying column must start with fat horses, and use up their reserve of flesh, arriving at the end with skeletons.
The Relief of Mafeking | Filson YoungThe effect has really been produced already, and prisoners in a flying column are a particular nuisance.
The Relief of Mafeking | Filson YoungIt goes to-morrow back to Pynaar's River, and then joins a flying column of some sort.
In the Ranks of the C.I.V. | Erskine ChildersThis morning he has gone again to what is left of Dixmude with a flying column.
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