squad

plural squads · alternative escouade

1. A group of people organized for some common purpose, usually of about ten members.

   He assembled a squad of ten to take on the assassin.

   1. A unit of tactical military personnel, or of police officers, usually of about ten members.

      A squad of soldiers ordered them to disperse but instead of doing so they commenced throwing ice and rocks.

      1912, The New England magazine, volume 47

   2. ball gamesA group of potential players from whom a starting team and substitutes are chosen.
   3. informalA collective noun for a group of squid.

      The Sea Life Centre retains a squad of squid and such.

      2002, Let's Go Inc., Let's Go 2003: Britain & Ireland, Let's Go Publications

      3 more examples

      At one point, the 400-ton Calypso was brought to a standstill by a squad of squid which clogged the engines and caused a power failure. Other, highlights included an attack by predatory blue sharks, […]

      1970, TV Guide, volume 18

      There's several new symbols next to the doorway symbol. Beso pushed all six of them without waiting to see what they brought; like a herd of charging rhinos or rampaging squad of squid. Next best thing though.

      2012, S. Louis King, Gnome Home Papers, AuthorHouse, →ISBN, page 546

      I pulled in as deep a breath as my gag allowed and began relaxing my body. I used a little trick I'd learned in college. I imagined that a friendly squad of squid were massaging every muscle on the bottoms of my feet; the tension began to drain.

      2017, Kristen Joy Wilks, Athens Ambuscade, Pelican Ventures Book Group, →ISBN

2. abbreviationellipsisfirefightingEllipsis of squad truck.
3. slangOne's friend group, taken collectively; one's peeps.

   anyway, sheʼs resigned herself to hanging out with the squad at uni rather than going manhunting

   2019, Bernardine Evaristo, Girl, Woman, Other, Penguin Books (2020), page 52

present singular third person squads · participle present squadding · participle past squadded · past squadded · alternative escouade

1. intransitiveTo act as part of, or on behalf of, a squad.

   We squad on the fifth of the month.

2. UStransitivemedical slangTo transport by ambulance.

1. UKdialectalSloppy mud.First known use mid-17th c.

   The lass ran all among the muck and squad.

   1875 March 13, Leicester Chronicle, quoted in the EDD

   1 more example

   An' she did n't not solidly mean I wur / gawin' that waäy to the bad, Fur the gell was as howry a trollope as / iver traäpes'd i' the squad.

   1895, Alfred Tennyson, The Poetical Works of Alfred Tennyson: Poet-laureate, page 791

1. USgovernmentAn informal group of left-wing Democrats in the House of Representatives.

   1 more example

   Squad members and their allies may also have to contend with pro-Israel Super Pacs and dark-money groups spending tens of millions of dollars on attack ads in a bid to unseat them. […] “A lot of us have seen the headlines that Squad or Squad-adjacent members could be in trouble this cycle,” said Chris Scott, the co-founder and president of the Advance the Electorate political action committee (Ate Pac), which recruits and trains young progressives.

   2023 December 25, David Smith, “A split among Democrats may threaten ‘the Squad’ - and help Trump - in 2024”, in The Guardian, →ISSN

1. informalAn informal military alliance between the United States, Japan, Australia, and the Philippines, focused on Asian security matters.
2. broadlyA grouping of the United States, Japan, Australia, and the Philippines.