squad

American  

[skwod] / skwɒd /

noun

squads plural

1. a small number of soldiers, commonly 10 privates, a staff sergeant, and a corporal; the smallest military unit.

2. a group of police officers, especially one organized to deal with a particular area of law enforcement.

   drug squad; fraud squad.

3. any small group or party of persons engaged in a common enterprise.

4. a sports team or a group of players from which a team is selected.

5. Slang. a group of friends.

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verb (used with object)

squadded, squadding

1. to form into squads.

2. to assign to a squad.

squad British  

/ skwɒd /

noun

1. the smallest military formation, typically comprising a dozen soldiers, used esp as a drill formation

2. any small group of people engaged in a common pursuit

3. sport a number of players from which a team is to be selected

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• squads
  plural

Etymology

Origin of squad

1640–50; < French esquade, alteration of esquadre < Spanish escuadra square; so called from square shape of the formation

Explanation

A squad is a group, gang, or team, often made up of soldiers or police officers, but any gang will do. Some people call their group of friends a squad, probably so they seem organized and tough. An army squad might focus on demolition or sharpshooting, while a police squad specializes in one particular type of crime — like a vice squad, battling drugs and illegal gambling, or a riot squad, controlling large groups of protesters. Any team of people is a squad, like a cheerleading squad or a squad of teenage graffiti artists. Squad comes from the Vulgar Latin exquadra, "square," or the shape infantry troops historically assembled in to fight.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

squad squads squadding

After Deschamps and Laurent Blanc, Zidane is the third consecutive member of that squad to take the top job.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026

The former Barnsley defender has won 93 international caps and was part of the England squad who finished third at the World Cup.

From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026

GM is years into developing its own version of the infantry squad vehicle, dubbed the ISV-Heavy.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026

But experience is in short supply - a glaring gap in this Liverpool squad and one that needs to be addressed.

From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026

Folks got quiet in a hurry; being a squad, with a name and everything, had changed the game.

From "Dactyl Hill Squad" by Daniel José Older

It underlines the scale of the task facing Chelsea, with Fifa having also moved to outlaw so-called "bomb squads" this summer.

From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026

What to watch out for: With two of Europe's strongest squads going up against each other, this fixture has all the ingredients for becoming a World Cup classic.

From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2026

International disaster teams, including some US squads, and some South American teams were starting to finish up rescue operations, their members said on Saturday.

From Barron's ● Jul. 4, 2026

Eventually, emergency squads from across the globe descended on La Guaira.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 30, 2026

He looked at the all-star teams of eleven-year-olds and thirteen-year-olds—the young players selected for elite traveling squads.

From "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell

But Squadrons isn’t just great for its design or it’s incredible, game-wide VR option: it’s also a fun class-based multiplayer game, one that rewards squadding up with friends and coordinating different classes and abilities.

From The Verge ● Dec. 19, 2020

The only thing he left here is this old coat which he wore at squadding in the morning.

From My Neighbors Stories of the Welsh People by Evans, Caradoc

Related Words

• band
• battalion
• division
• force
• gang
• group
• squadron
• troop