Commando

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Commando \Com*man"do\, n. [D. See {Command}, v. t.]
     1. In South Africa, a military body or command; also,
        sometimes, an expedition or raid; as, a commando of a
        hundred Boers.
  
              The war bands, called commandos, have played a great


              part in the . . . military history of the country.
                                                    --James Bryce.
        [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
  
     2. a usually small military unit trained to perform special
        missions, often behind enemy lines, and usually employing
        hit-and-run tactics. Such units often have the destruction
        of fixed targets, such as enemy installations, as their
        mission, in contrast to normal combat units which engage
        the enemy army directly.
        [PJC]
  
     3. a member of a commando[2] unit.
        [PJC]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  commando
       n 1: a member of a military unit trained as shock troops for
            hit-and-run raids [syn: {ranger}]
       2: an amphibious military unit trained for raids into enemy
          territory
       [also: {commandoes} (pl)]