Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A subdivision of a company of troops consisting of two or more squads or sections and usually commanded by a lieutenant.
- noun A group of people working, traveling, or assembled together.
- noun Sports A group of players within a team, especially a football team, that is trained and sent into or withdrawn from play as a unit.
- intransitive verb To play (a player) in alternation with another player in the same position.
- intransitive verb To use alternate players at the same position.
- intransitive verb To take turns playing a position with another player.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A small body of soldiers or musketeers, drawn out of a battalion of foot to form a hollow square to strengthen the angles of some military formation or position; or, a small body acting together, but separate from the main body.
- noun A number of soldiers, as large as is convenient for drill, etc., drawn up in two ranks, usually from 15 to 25 in each rank; hence (since a company of infantry is habitually divided into two platoons), half of a company considered as a separate body.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun Formerly, a body of men who fired together; also, a small square body of soldiers to strengthen the angles of a hollow square.
- noun Now, in the United States service, half of a company.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun military A unit of thirty to forty
soldiers typically commanded by alieutenant and forming part of acompany . - verb baseball To alternate starts with a teammate of opposite
handedness , depending on the handedness of the opposingpitcher
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a military unit that is a subdivision of a company; usually has a headquarters and two or more squads; usually commanded by a lieutenant
- noun a team of policemen working under the military platoon system
- noun a group of persons who are engaged in a common activity
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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That's because there isn't one specific focal character; if anything, the platoon is the focal character.
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That's because there isn't one specific focal character; if anything, the platoon is the focal character.
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The platoon is also required to promote an uneasy hearts-and-minds policy among notionally friendly locals.
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The Navy announced last year it would name a destroyer after Marine Cpl. Jason Dunham, who used his helmet and body to cover a grenade in Iraq on April 14, 2004, protecting members of his platoon from the bulk of the blast, according to the Department of Defense's "Heroes in the War on Terror" website.
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The natural strength of a platoon is understrength.
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The natural strength of a platoon is understrength.
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A platoon is typically less than thirty men, and a squad is eight or less.
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In the current report, we are told that the situation became so serious that a platoon from the 3Bn the Parachute Regiment refused to go out on patrol until the problem was resolved.
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This year's blue-line platoon is a fairly uninspiring lot in Red Line's view.
USATODAY.com - Getting defensive with this year's NHL draft crop
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"Testing was conducted on an unwitting platoon from the 75th Ranger Regiment."
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