platoon
noun · verb
Simple meaning
A military unit that is a subdivision of a company.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
pluhtoonSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
pləˈtun
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
military
A military unit that is a subdivision of a company; usually has a headquarters and two or more squads; usually commanded by a lieutenant
military
A unit of thirty to forty soldiers typically commanded by a lieutenant and forming part of a company.
A subdivision of a fire company, led by a captain or lieutenant.
A group of self-driving vehicles travelling in a close convoy and communicating electronically with each other.
verb
Of self-driving vehicles: to travel in a close convoy, each vehicle communicating electronically with the others.
baseball
To alternate starts with a teammate of opposite handedness, depending on the handedness of the opposing pitcher
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced (estimated)
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Formality
- Technical
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A military unit that is a subdivision of a company; usually has a headquarters and two or more squads; usually commanded by a lieutenant
Used this way, platoon is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a military use: it belongs to service and operational language.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Clinical and technical
- Usage feel
- Technical and specialized
Where it naturally appears
- Military
- Historical writing
- News/reporting
- Business/professional
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Related Words
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.