troop Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a group of soldiers
  2. noun a cavalry unit corresponding to an infantry company
  3. noun a unit of Girl or Boy Scouts
    scout group; scout troop.
  4. noun an orderly crowd
    flock.
    • a troop of children
  5. verb march in a procession
    promenade; parade.
    • the veterans paraded down the street
  6. verb move or march as if in a crowd
    • They children trooped into the room

WordNet

Troop noun
Etymology
F. troupe, OF. trope, trupe, LL. troppus; of uncertain origin; cf. Icel. þorp a hamlet, village, G. dorf a village, dial. G. dorf a meeting. Norw. torp a little farm, a crowd, E. thorp. Cf. Troupe.
Definitions
  1. A collection of people; a company; a number; a multitude.
    That which should accompany old age -- As honor, love, obedience, troops of friends -- I must not look to have. Shak.
  2. Soldiers, collectively; an army; -- now generally used in the plural.
    Farewell the plumed troop, and the big wars. Shak.
    His troops moved to victory with the precision of machines. Macaulay.
  3. (Mil.) Specifically, a small body of cavalry, light horse, or dragoons, consisting usually of about sixty men, commanded by a captain; the unit of formation of cavalry, corresponding to the company in infantry. Formerly, also, a company of horse artillery; a battery.
  4. A company of stageplayers; a troupe. W. Coxe.
  5. (Mil.) A particular roll of the drum; a quick march.
Troop intransitive verb
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Trooped ; present participle & verbal noun Trooping
Definitions
  1. To move in numbers; to come or gather in crowds or troops. "Armies . . . troop to their standard." Milton.
  2. To march on; to go forward in haste.
    Nor do I, as an enemy to peace, Troop in the throngs of military men. Shak.

Webster 1913