I. troop 1 W2 /truːp/ BrE AmE noun
[ Date: 1500-1600 ; Language: French ; Origin: ⇨ ↑ troupe ]
1 . troops [plural] soldiers in an organized group:
Both countries agreed to withdraw their troops.
French/UN/government etc troops
Johnson took the popular step of sending in American troops.
troops stationed in Hawaii
2 . troop movement/withdrawal etc movements etc of troops:
increased troop deployment (=when troops are moved to places where they are needed)
3 . [countable] a group of soldiers, especially on horses or in ↑ tank s :
the troop commander
4 . [countable] a group of people or animals that do something together:
a troop of monkeys
a Scout troop
⇨ ↑ troupe
• • •
COLLOCATIONS
■ ADJECTIVES/NOUN + troops
▪ American/French/UN etc troops
This operation was undertaken by British troops.
▪ foreign troops
He demanded that all foreign troops be withdrawn from the region.
▪ government troops
The state radio reported serious clashes between government troops and guerrillas.
▪ peacekeeping troops
He ruled out sending UN peacekeeping troops into the republic.
▪ ground troops
The advancing ground troops were provided with substantial air support.
▪ combat troops
Heavily-armed combat troops were deployed on the streets of the capital yesterday.
▪ enemy troops
His platoon was captured by enemy troops.
▪ elite/crack troops (=the best, most skilled or most experienced troops)
The general's headquarters is guarded by crack troops.
■ verbs
▪ withdraw troops
Mauritania had declared its neutrality and withdrawn its troops.
▪ send in troops
Johnson wanted to win the war without sending in American ground troops.
▪ deploy troops (=send them to a place where they could do something)
Should more troops be deployed?
▪ troops are stationed
525,000 American troops were stationed in the country.
▪ troops march
British troops marched north to attack the German forces.
▪ troops advance (=move forward in order to attack a place)
Government troops advanced on the rebel stronghold.
II. troop 2 BrE AmE verb [intransitive always + adverb/preposition] informal
if a group of people troop somewhere, they walk there together in a way that shows they are tired or bored
troop off/along/out etc
After rehearsals, we’d all troop off to the cafeteria.