rear echelon

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noun

(in a military operation) the troops, officers, etc., removed from the combat zone and responsible for administration, matériel, etc.

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Compare forward echelon.

Origin of rear echelon

First recorded in 1930–35

Words nearby rear echelon

reappraise, rear, Rear Adm., rear admiral, Reardon, rear echelon, rear end, rear-ender, rearguard, rear its ugly head, rear light

How to use rear echelon in a sentence

What if you just want eyes on the back of your head, you want forward and rear-facing cameras?
All Your Internet Boyfriends Are Taken: Gosling, Cumberbatch, and now Joseph Gordon-Levitt|Melissa Leon|January 3, 2015|DAILY BEAST
George Cook, a middle-age black man from the Bronx, brought up the rear.
‘They Let Him Off?’ Scenes from NYC in Disbelief|Jacob Siegel|December 4, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Shouts came from the rear of the crowd for “no violence,” shouts that went largely unheeded.
Mexican Protesters Look to Start a New Revolution|Jason McGahan|November 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST
At the rear end of the park is a wall or divider maybe six or seven feet high and about twice that wide.
Inside Hebron, Israel’s Heart of Darkness|Michael Tomasky|November 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Kitty staggered around the corner to the rear of her building, trying to make it home.
The Myth of the Central Park Five|Edward Conlon|October 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
As the bright glow of a little cascade of sparks pierced the darkness, a voice in our rear called sharply: "Hands up!"
Raw Gold|Bertrand W. Sinclair
He went himself to the kitchen, which was a building apart from the cottages and lying to the rear of the house.
The Awakening and Selected Short Stories|Kate Chopin
If we had shot 'em without discrimination, the cowards would have got bold, seein' that they weren't safer in rear than in front.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. CCCXXXIX. January, 1844. Vol. LV.|Various
Going back we had some long range shots with the 15-inch guns at batteries in rear of Achi Baba.
Gallipoli Diary, Volume I|Ian Hamilton
So Lawrence find Harry rode ahead, the squad some fifteen or twenty paces in the rear, leisurely following.
The Courier of the Ozarks|Byron A. Dunn