as in armies
a large body of men and women organized for land warfare
the nation's battalions were forced to fight on two fronts simultaneously
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Recent Examples of battalions
Massive snow clouds like battalions have smothered the sunlight.
—
Joyce Carol Oates, The New Yorker, 16 Mar. 2025
The Biden administration sent more than 300 Bradleys to Ukraine, and the Ukrainians distributed them to at least six 31-vehicle battalions, including several with the 47th Mechanized Brigade.
—David Axe, Forbes, 13 Mar. 2025
No, what Ukraine needs is drones, defenses against drones, long-range air defenses, artillery shells and—more than anything else—a more robust and fair mobilization system to replenish its depleted infantry battalions with fresh troops.
—David Axe, Forbes, 11 Mar. 2025
But Israel has refused to countenance any Hamas control in Gaza, while Hamas has shown little appetite for disbanding its battalions of armed fighters or sending its Gaza leaders into exile.
—Rawan Sheikh Ahmad, New York Times, 20 Feb. 2025
Though the initiative would occur outside of the NATO format, one Western official pointed to NATO’s multinational battalions in the Baltic countries — which, unlike Ukraine, are members of the alliance — as a possible model.
—Samya Kullab and Emma Burrows, Los Angeles Times, 24 Jan. 2025
Its battalions have been smashed; all that is left is a ragtag insurgency capable only of hit-and-run tactics.
—Hussein Ibish, The Atlantic, 19 Jan. 2025
That’s two whole battalions of vehicles.
—David Axe, Forbes, 19 Jan. 2025
Israel estimates that only two of Hamas’s battalions remain intact, but the analyst Seth Frantzman, a professional Bad News Bear on this topic, has listed the evidence that perhaps a dozen battalions’ worth of Hamas fighters have survived.
—Graeme Wood, The Atlantic, 16 Jan. 2025
Joyce Carol Oates, The New Yorker, 16 Mar. 2025
The Biden administration sent more than 300 Bradleys to Ukraine, and the Ukrainians distributed them to at least six 31-vehicle battalions, including several with the 47th Mechanized Brigade.
—David Axe, Forbes, 13 Mar. 2025
No, what Ukraine needs is drones, defenses against drones, long-range air defenses, artillery shells and—more than anything else—a more robust and fair mobilization system to replenish its depleted infantry battalions with fresh troops.
—David Axe, Forbes, 11 Mar. 2025
But Israel has refused to countenance any Hamas control in Gaza, while Hamas has shown little appetite for disbanding its battalions of armed fighters or sending its Gaza leaders into exile.
—Rawan Sheikh Ahmad, New York Times, 20 Feb. 2025
Though the initiative would occur outside of the NATO format, one Western official pointed to NATO’s multinational battalions in the Baltic countries — which, unlike Ukraine, are members of the alliance — as a possible model.
—Samya Kullab and Emma Burrows, Los Angeles Times, 24 Jan. 2025
Its battalions have been smashed; all that is left is a ragtag insurgency capable only of hit-and-run tactics.
—Hussein Ibish, The Atlantic, 19 Jan. 2025
That’s two whole battalions of vehicles.
—David Axe, Forbes, 19 Jan. 2025
Israel estimates that only two of Hamas’s battalions remain intact, but the analyst Seth Frantzman, a professional Bad News Bear on this topic, has listed the evidence that perhaps a dozen battalions’ worth of Hamas fighters have survived.
—Graeme Wood, The Atlantic, 16 Jan. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Battalions.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/battalions. Accessed 23 Apr. 2025.
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