platoon

American  

[pluh-toon] / pləˈtun /

noun

• platoons
  plural

1. a military unit consisting of two or more squads or sections and a headquarters.

2. a small unit of a police force.

3. a company or group of persons.

   a platoon of visitors.

4. Football. a group of players specially trained in one aspect of the game, as offense or defense, and used as a unit.

   a halfback on the offensive platoon.

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verb (used with object)

1. Sports.

   1. to use (a player) at a position in a game alternately with another player or players.

   2. to alternate (two different teams or units), as separate offensive and defensive squads.

verb (used without object)

1. Sports.

   1. to alternate at a position with another player or players.

   2. to use players alternately at the same position.

   3. to alternate different teams.

platoon British  

/ pləˈtuːn /

noun

1. military a subunit of a company usually comprising three sections of ten to twelve men: commanded by a lieutenant

2. a group or unit of people, esp one sharing a common activity, characteristic, etc

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• platoons
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of platoon

1630–40; earlier plotton < French peloton little ball, group, platoon, diminutive of pelote ball. See pellet, -oon

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Explanation

A platoon is a military unit made up of squads. If you’re in a war zone, you might see a platoon of soldiers guarding a checkpoint. Military branches such as the army, navy, air force, or marines are broken down into smaller groups. One is a platoon, which is part of a company and made up of squads. A platoon usually has its own headquarters and is under the command of a lieutenant. In a war, platoons will be stationed in places according to strategy — the platoon might be attacking or defending. Platoon (1986) is also the name of a war movie about Vietnam.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

platoon platoons

Upon reading the summary, we wondered why the report required a platoon of analysts to produce.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026

“It would be like if I was leading a platoon of Marines but went to a hotel to sleep at night while they’re out in a foxhole,” he added.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 2, 2026

“Before you can command a ship, a platoon, a flight of fighters,” he told graduates, “you must be able to command yourself.”

From Salon ● May 24, 2026

One of the Anglian soldiers - Pte Tymoteusz Maciejewski, in the anti-tank platoon - was born in Poland but moved to England at the age of four.

From BBC ● Mar. 22, 2026

Early on the morning of May 4,1942, those twenty-nine men of what would be the first all-Navajo platoon, the 382nd, boarded a bus at Fort Defiance.

From "Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War Two" by Joseph Bruchac

The golds and apple at the center is all the ways that people love their neighbor, pursue the good, the true, and the beautiful, build little platoons.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 7, 2026

This year, mercenaries began transiting through Bosaso in Somalia, where local sources told AFP a UAE-run section of a military base has hosted platoons of uniformed foreigners, transported in cargo planes.

From Barron's ● Dec. 21, 2025

Many of us in the platoons of the federal workforce cannot afford to be dismissed, however illegal the dismissal might be.

From Slate ● Feb. 3, 2025

The department is staffed by three 24-hour shifts, or platoons, of firefighters.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 14, 2025

He told me in his sergeant's voice that I had to go over to the Skins Team and I had better not try to mess up his platoons again, no sirree, buster.

From "Okay for Now" by Gary D. Schmidt

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Related Words

• batch
• detachment
• patrol
• squad
• squadron

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