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Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. n. An army unit typically consisting of a headquarters and two or more companies, batteries, or similar subunits.
  2. n. A large body of organized troops.
  3. n. A great number: battalions of ants.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. n. An army in battle array.
  2. n. In general, any distinct portion of an army or minor body of troops acting together: as, God is on the side of the largest battalions (a saying attributed to Turenne); a battalion of infantry, cavalry, grenadiers, voltigeurs, etc. In the United States two or more detached companies of infantry, squadrons of cavalry, or batteries of artillery serving together are called a battalion, simply for convenience.
  3. n. Technically, a body of infantry composed of two or more companies forming part of a regiment, or sometimes constituting a whole regiment. In European armies an infantry regiment is usually divided into three battalions, sometimes with a fourth in reserve from which losses in the others are filled. Formerly the regiments of the United States army, then consisting of twelve companies, were divided into three battalions; but now each regiment of ten companies constitutes a single battalion.

Wiktionary

  1. n. military An army unit having two or more companies, etc. and a headquarters. Traditionally forming part of a regiment.
  2. n. US, military an army unit having two or more companies, etc. and a headquarters; forming part of a brigade.
  3. n. Any large body of troops.
  4. n. by extension A great number of things.
  5. v. To form into battalions.

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. n. archaic A body of troops; esp. a body of troops or an army in battle array.
  2. n. (Mil.) An infantry command of two or more companies, which is the tactical unit of the infantry, or the smallest command which is self-supporting upon the battlefield, and also the unit in which the strength of the infantry of an army is expressed.
  3. v. rare To form into battalions.

WordNet 3.0

  1. n. a large indefinite number
  2. n. an army unit usually consisting of a headquarters and three or more companies

Etymologies

  1. From French bataillon. (Wiktionary)
  2. French bataillon, from Old French, from Italian battaglione, augmentative of battaglia, from Vulgar Latin *battalia; see battle. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)

Examples

  • “Of course we were all very concerned, but to our great satisfaction, he said at the end of the day, "Haldenby, your battalion is all right", and walked off.”

    A Battalion Commander's Experience in the First Year of the War

  • “Many hands make lighter work, said Staff Sgt. Joel Mabry of Cullman, Ala., who is deployed with an engineering battalion from the Alabama National Guard.”

    Karzai appeared happy after Obama videoconference

  • “The battalion is part of the 19,000-soldier 3rd Infantry, the first Army division to be tapped for a third tour of duty in Iraq.”

    Battalion's deaths pushed Iraq count to 4,000

  • “Also, I inadvertently left out the word battalion in the sentence, "a pair of Apache helicopter battalions can devour more than 60,000 gallons of fuel in a single night's attack.”

    Barry Sanders: The Green Zone: The Military's Addiction To Oil

  • “The battalion from the west stopped in the wire when Spectre engaged their supporting tanks.”

    Schott, Richard S.

  • “This battalion is representative of the whole country, and by the force of their personal example speak for the Army.”

    Korean Report

  • “It will be readily grasped that as each battalion is provided with one Regimental Medical Officer, where a battalion was made up from two or three militia regiments, this meant a considerable rearrangement of medical personnel.”

    War Story of the Canadian Army Medical Corps

  • “You call at Battalion headquarters, and the colonel tells you that your battalion is going to take a certain definite objective, and you are told all about it.”

    Experiences of an Infantryman at the Front

  • “When you hear that a Canadian battalion is going into action you have faith that it will acquit itself bravely and nobly, and you do not have to pause to ask whether it was recruited from the East or the West, from Ontario or Quebec or British Columbia.”

    Win The War—The Next Step

  • “But here again the estimate helps us little, owing to the vague use of the terms battalion and squadron.”

    Claverhouse

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synonyms (7)

Words with the same meaning

  1. division
  1. mass
  1. heap
  1. horde
  1. swathe
  1. pile
  1. load

hypernyms (2)

Words that are more generic or abstract

  1. large indefinite quantity
  1. large indefinite amount

same context (18)

Words that are found in similar contexts

  1. brigade
  2. platoon
  3. infantry
  1. squadron
  2. troop
  3. division
  1. commander
  2. detachment
  3. headquarters
  1. unit
  2. personnel
  3. battery
  1. patrol
  2. combat
  3. reconnaissance
  1. militia
  2. garrison
  3. aviation

rhymes (5)

Words with the same terminal sound

  1. Italian
  1. gallion
  1. medallion
  1. scallion
  1. stallion

reverse dictionary (31)

Words that contain this word in their definition

  1. grenadier
  2. quarter-guard
  3. sheltron
  4. sergeant major
  5. fife-major
  6. bat.
  1. battle
  2. division
  3. face of a square
  4. file
  5. flank
  6. flank company
  1. flank files
  2. general guides
  3. battle group
  4. company
  5. top
  6. alinement
  1. attach
  2. battalion
  3. club
  4. color-guard
  5. deploy
  6. depot
  1. platoon
  2. roster
  3. section
  4. taxiarch
  5. taxis
  6. voltigeur
  1. ward

tags (2)

Free-form, user-generated categorization

  1. military
  1. army

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Lists

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  • palooka "An army unit typically consisting of a headquarters and two or more companies, batteries, or similar subunits." Mar 16, 2008

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‘battalion’ has been looked up 2341 times, loved by 1 person, added to 18 lists, commented on 1 time, and has a Scrabble score of 11.