Basic Details
Word: Troop
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: A group of soldiers, or any large group of people or animals moving together; as a verb, to walk somewhere as a group.
Synonyms: group, band, unit
Sounds like: troupe (a group of actors, dancers or other performers)
Word origin: From French troupe, a band of people.
How to Spell Troop
Syllables: troop
Tricky part: It sounds exactly like troupe, a group of actors or dancers. Troop for soldiers, scouts and monkeys has a double o and no e.
Watch out for: troup, trup, troope
Memory tip: Soldiers march in two-by-two, so troop has two o's side by side.
Usage Examples
Example 1: A troop of langurs swung across the road near the forest checkpost.
Example 2: Our scout troop camped beside the river for two nights.
Example 3: The children trooped into the hall for the morning assembly.
Fun Fact
In the plural, troops nearly always means soldiers: a news report about troops at the border is about an army, not a group of scouts or monkeys.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
At dawn, a troup of soldiers crossed the frozen river and set up camp near the old monastery before the snowfall blocked the pass.
a) troup
b) blocked
c) monastery
d) frozen
Show answer
a) troup. Soldiers form a troop, spelt with a double o; the -oupe spelling is for performers only.
Word Connection
Choose the synonym of the word troop as used in the sentence:
A troop of baboons sat on the warm rocks, grooming one another in the sun.
a) leader
b) guard
c) loner
d) group
Show answer
d) group. Many monkeys together make a group; a loner is one on its own.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the word in the sentence and choose it:
An ortpo of horsemen rode out of the fort gates at sunrise.
a) troupe
b) troop
c) proof
d) trope
Show answer
b) troop. Two o's and no e or f: only troop uses exactly these five letters.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Fill both blanks: A ____ of dancers performed while a ____ of soldiers guarded the gate.
a) troop, troop
b) troupe, troupe
c) troupe, troop
d) troop, troupe
Show answer
c) troupe, troop
2. Pupils who troop into a hall ____.
a) crawl in on their knees
b) stay outside the door
c) run in one at a time
d) walk in together as a group
Show answer
d) walk in together as a group
