Dictionary

noun

Definitions

1. Primarily, a square; hence, a square body of troops; a body of troops drawn up in a square.

2. A body of cavalry comprising two companies or troops, averaging from one hundred and twenty to two hundred soldiers.

3. A body of infantrymen made up of several platoons, averaging from eighty to one hundred and fifty men, and led by a captain or a major.

4. A detachment of vessels employed on any particular service or station, under the command of the senior officer

   Example: the North Atlantic Squadron