troop
Americannoun
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an assemblage of persons or things; company; band.
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a great number or multitude.
A whole troop of children swarmed through the museum.
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Military. an armored cavalry or cavalry unit consisting of two or more platoons and a headquarters group.
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troops, a body of soldiers, police, etc..
Mounted troops quelled the riot.
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a single soldier, police officer, etc..
Three troops were killed today by a roadside bomb.
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a unit of Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts usually having a maximum of 32 members under the guidance of an adult leader.
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a herd, flock, or swarm.
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Archaic. a band or troupe of actors.
verb (used without object)
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to gather in a company; flock together.
- Synonyms:
- collect
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to come, go, or pass in great numbers; throng.
- Synonyms:
- swarm
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to walk, as if in a march; go.
to troop down to breakfast.
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to walk, march, or pass in rank or order.
The students trooped into the auditorium.
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to associate or consort (usually followed bywith ).
verb (used with object)
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British Military. to carry (the flag or colors) in a ceremonial way before troops.
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Obsolete. to assemble or form into a troop or troops.
noun
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a large group or assembly; flock
a troop of children
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a subdivision of a cavalry squadron or artillery battery of about platoon size
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(plural) armed forces; soldiers
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a large group of Scouts comprising several patrols
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an archaic spelling of troupe
verb
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(intr) to gather, move, or march in or as if in a crowd
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(tr) military to parade (the colour or flag) ceremonially
trooping the colour
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slang (tr) military (formerly) to report (a serviceman) for a breach of discipline
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(intr) an archaic word for consort
Synonym Usage
See company. Troop, troupe both mean a band, company, or group. Troop has various meanings as indicated in the definitions above. With the spelling troupe the word has the specialized meaning of a company of actors, singers, acrobats, or other performers.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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troopsimple
-
troopssimple
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have troopedperfect
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has troopedperfect
-
am troopingprogressive
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are troopingprogressive
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is troopingprogressive
-
have been troopingperfect progressive
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has been troopingperfect progressive
Past
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troopedsimple
-
had troopedperfect
-
was troopingprogressive
-
were troopingprogressive
-
had been troopingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of troop
First recorded in 1535–45; from French troupe, Old French trope, probably back formation from tropel “herd, flock” ( French troupeau ), equivalent to trop- (from Germanic; see thorp) + -el, ultimately from Latin -ellus diminutive suffix
Explanation
A troop is a squad or team of soldiers. Your great grandfather might claim that his was the first army troop to march into France during World War II. Though it's correct to use the noun troop in the singular form, it's more common to see its plural, troops. You can also refer to a group of Girl or Boy Scouts this way: "My troop won a prize for selling the most Girl Scout cookies this year." To troop is also to march, so a military troop might troop down the street in the Veteran's Day parade. The root word is the Old French trope, "band of people."
Vocabulary lists containing troop
Veterans Day Vocabulary
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Memorial Day: Words of Respect and Remembrance
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Commonly Confused Words, List 2
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
But the prospect of further U.S. troop cuts in Europe is still looming.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 3, 2026
Speaking as a former troop myself, I have my doubts.
From Slate ● Jun. 16, 2026
His wife enlisted in the army shortly after him, and heads his unit's troop support service.
From Barron's ● Jun. 10, 2026
The U.N. has accelerated troop drawdowns in African hot spots such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo to conserve cash and slashed peacekeeping expenditures.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 30, 2026
I began sharing my food with the troop regularly, and they too helped me find food, because when I followed them, they’d invariably lead me to places where there were fruits or berries.
From "Flying Through Water" by Mamle Wolo
“There are no American bases in Jordan. We have American troops that are in Jordan as part of our long-standing military cooperation,” he said at the Aspen Security Forum earlier this month.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
Washington, though, remains a major ally of Kyiv, providing it notably with intelligence and access to the Starlink satellite system that allows its frontline troops to communicate.
From Barron's ● Jul. 28, 2026
The troops will assist with evacuating residents from areas threatened by the fires and help safeguard homes left unattended during the emergency, the defence ministry said.
From Barron's ● Jul. 26, 2026
Weeks later, in July 2014, Drapatiy coordinated the safe withdrawal of 260 troops from an area that was encircled and relentlessly shelled for weeks by Russian forces.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
Until now, American troops had been fighting as part of the French and British armies.
From "The War to End All Wars: World War I" by Russell Freedman
Each year, a different regiment's colours are trooped, with this year's being the Grenadier Guards.
From BBC ● Jun. 13, 2026
Many of crypto’s biggest players trooped to Abu Dhabi last week, hoping to secure deals with deep-pocketed Emirati investors who could inject fresh vigor into the industry following two months in the doldrums.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 14, 2025
Soon, their third-grade “reading buddies” trooped in from a classroom down the hall, and the group settled in to make some art.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 19, 2025
The colour, or regimental flag, which was trooped in the ceremony belongs to the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards.
From Reuters ● Jun. 17, 2023
When they trooped into the bedroom Adam was propped high on his pillows.
From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck
"People are trooping to the Hakimpur border check-post since Tuesday after hearing that crossover to Bangladesh is possible from this outpost," senior state police official Subrata Saha told AFP at the site.
From Barron's ● May 29, 2026
It was a seemingly endless succession of “Succession” winners trooping to the stage on a final triumphant night for the HBO drama.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 16, 2024
"It's not a great start to the morning I'm not going to lie, but what can you do?" she asks before trooping off in the direction of the bus stop.
From BBC ● Jun. 6, 2022
There was pleasure, of course, to be had in the sight of Manchester United, once again, reduced to chasing shadows, grasping hopelessly at air, its players’ heads hanging and its fans silently trooping away.
From New York Times ● Mar. 6, 2022
Their half muted crankings miles above where they circled the earth as senselessly as insects trooping the rim of a bowl.
From "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
