Platoon

3 definitions found

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

  Platoon \Pla*toon"\, n. [F. peloton a ball of thread, a knot or
     group of men, a platoon, from pelote a ball formed of things
     wound round. See {Pellet}.] (Mil.)
     (a) Formerly, a body of men who fired together; also, a small
         square body of soldiers to strengthen the angles of a
         hollow square.


     (b) Now, in the United States service, half of a company.
         [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  platoon
       n 1: a military unit that is a subdivision of a company; usually
            has a headquarters and two or more squads; usually
            commanded by a lieutenant
       2: a team of policemen working under the military platoon
          system
       3: a group of persons who are engaged in a common activity;
          "platoons of tourists poured out of the busses"; "the
          defensive platoon of the football team"

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  95 Moby Thesaurus words for "platoon":
     KP, age group, army, army group, array, band, batch, battalion,
     battery, battle group, bevy, body, brigade, bunch, cabal, cadre,
     cast, clique, clump, cluster, cohort, column, combat command,
     combat team, company, complement, contingent, corps, coterie,
     covey, crew, crowd, detachment, detail, division, eight, eleven,
     faction, field army, field train, file, first string, first team,
     five, fleet, flying column, formation, gang, garrison, group,
     grouping, groupment, in-group, junta, kitchen police, legion, lot,
     maniple, mob, movement, nine, organization, out-group, outfit,
     pack, parcel, party, patrol, peer group, phalanx, posse, rank,
     regiment, reserves, rowing crew, salon, second string, second team,
     section, set, squad, squadron, stable, string, tactical unit,
     task force, team, third string, train, tribe, troop, troupe, unit,
     varsity, wing