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A disposition or arrangement of troops for attacking an enemy unexpectedly from a concealed station. Hence: Unseen peril; a device to entrap; a snare. Heaven, whose high walls fear no assault or siege Or ambush from the deep. Milton.

vents of one's life; previous principles, conduct, course, history. J. H. Newman. If the troops . . . prove worthy of their antecedents, the victory is surely ours. Gen. G. McClellan.

nt d'appui. Etym: [F., a point of support.] (Mil.) (a) A given point or body, upon which troops are formed, or by which are marched in line or column. (b) An advantageous defensive support, as a castle, morass, wood, declivity, etc.

titude to burn. He seems to have had a peculiar aptitude for the management of irregular troops. Macaulay.

dispose (persons, or parts) in the manner intended, or best suited for the purpose; as, troops arranged for battle. So [they] came to the market place, and there he arranged his men in the streets. Berners. [They] were beginning to arrange their hampers. Boswell. A mechanism previously arranged. Paley.…

To place or dispose in order, as troops for battle; to marshal. By torch and trumpet fast arrayed, Each horseman drew his battle blade. Campbell. These doubts will be arrayed before their minds. Farrar.

A beat of the drum or sound of the bugle as a signal to troops to assemble.

Auxiliary. [Archaic] The auxiliar troops and Trojan hosts appear. Pope.

Conferring aid or help; helping; aiding; assisting; subsidiary; as auxiliary troops. Auxiliary scales (Mus.), the scales of relative or attendant keys. See under Attendant, a. -- Auxiliary verbs (Gram.). See Auxiliary, n., 3.

A company of persons united in any common design, especially a body of armed men. Troops of horsemen with his bands of foot. Shak.

To supply with barracks; to establish in barracks; as, to barrack troops.

A soldier belonging to the irregular troops of the Turkish army.

Order of battle; disposition or arrangement of troops (brigades, regiments, battalions, etc.), or of a naval force, for action. A drawing up the armies in battalia. Jer. Taylor.

A body of troops; esp. a body of troops or an army in battle array. "The whole battalion views." Milton.

Battery d'enfilade, or Enfilading battery, one that sweeps the whole length of a line of troops or part of a work. -- Battery en écharpe, one that plays obliquely. -- Battery gun, a gun capable of firing a number, of shots simultaneously or successively without stopping to load. -- Battery wagon, a wagon employed to…

A significant nod, or motion of the head or hand, esp. as a call or command. They have troops of soldiers at their beck. Shak.

in; to waylay; to surround; to besiege; to blockade. "Beset with foes." Milton. Let thy troops beset our gates. Addison.

A small horse formerly allowed to each trooper or dragoon for carrying his baggage. B. Jonson.

rth of England and south of Scotland, to certain men who were allied to robbers, or moss troopers, to be by them protected from pillage. Sir W. Scott.

The shutting up of a place by troops or ships, with the purpose of preventing ingress or egress, or the reception of supplies; as, the blockade of the ports of an enemy.