troope

Noun

troop (plural troops)

1. (collective) A collection of people; a number; a multitude (in general).
   • That which should accompany old age — / As honour, love, obedience, troops of friends — / I must not look to have.c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...
   1. (collective) A small unit of cavalry or armour commanded by a captain, corresponding to a platoon or company of infantry.
   2. (collective) A detachment of soldiers or police, especially horse artillery, armour, or state troopers.
   3. (collective, in plural) A group of soldiers; military forces.
      • Ah, knovv you not the Citie fauours them, / And they haue troupes of Souldiers at their beck?c. 1591–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard...
   4. (collective, nonstandard) A company of actors; a troupe.
      • In order to form the new troop to a greater degree of perfection, the four principal actors were placed in the seminary of the cadets1784, William Coxe, Travels into Poland, Russia, Sweden and Denmark
   5. (collective, scouting) A chapter of a national girl or boy scouts organization, consisting of one or more patrols of 6 to 8 youngsters each.
      • Lord Baden-Powell of Gilwell (1920), Aids To Scoutmastership, page 6: “It is the Patrol System that makes the Troop, and all Scouting for that matter, a real co-operative effort.”

See all 15 meanings of troop