squadron

noun

squad·​ron ˈskwä-drən 

1

: a unit of military organization: such as

a

: a cavalry unit higher than a troop and lower than a regiment

b

: a naval unit consisting of two or more divisions and sometimes additional vessels

c(1)

: a unit of the U.S. Air Force higher than a flight and lower than a group

(2)

: a military flight formation

2

: a large group of people or things

a squadron of limos

Examples of squadron in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

On June 8, 1708, the San José encountered a squadron of four British ships near Isla de Barú, south of Cartagena (an important Spanish colonial city). —Jack Knudson, Discover Magazine, 14 June 2024

Then, on a late spring evening in 1944, a commander took each squadron into a nearby wheat field to give them special instruction. —Michael Collins, USA TODAY, 1 June 2024

The squadron will have four of them to start, but that number will mushroom as the Navy hustles to add hundreds more throughout the fleet. —Gary Robbins, San Diego Union-Tribune, 17 May 2024

More than 20 years passed from when the Joint Strike Fighter program was envisioned to when the first combat squadron of F-35s was declared operational. —Nadia Schadlow, Foreign Affairs, 11 Aug. 2020

Word History

Etymology

Italian squadrone, augmentative of squadra squad, from Old Italian

First Known Use

1562, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing squadron

• squadron leader

Kids Definition

squadron

noun

squad·​ron ˈskwäd-rən 

: any of several units of military organization