squad
Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
squad/skwɒd/
▶noun [treated as sing. or pl.]
- 1 a small number of soldiers assembled for drill or assigned to a particular task.
- 2 a group of sports players from which a team is chosen.
- 3 a division of a police force dealing with a particular type of crime.
– origin C17: shortening of Fr. escouade, var. of escadre, from Ital. squadra ‘square’.
'squad' also found in these Oxford entries:
bomb squad
- death squad
- firing party
- firing squad
- flying squad
- hit squad
- prowl car
- special team
- squad car
- taxi squad
