Meaning & use
garrison
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Meanings
nouncountable
A group of soldiers stationed in a town or fort to defend it.
Grammar: Countable: a garrison, the garrison, two garrisons. Often followed by 'of' + number: a garrison of 500 soldiers.
Patterns
- a garrison of soldiers
- the garrison town
The garrison defended the fort against the attack.
A small garrison was left behind to protect the town.
The general inspected the garrison at dawn.
nouncountable
The place where such a group of soldiers is stationed.
Grammar: Countable: the garrison was well fortified.
Patterns
- at the garrison
The soldiers returned to the garrison after the patrol.
The old garrison is now a museum.
verbtransitive
To station soldiers in a place to defend it.
Grammar: Takes an object: garrison a town. Often used in the passive: the town was garrisoned by troops.
Patterns
- garrison a place
- be garrisoned by someone
The army garrisoned the border town to prevent invasion.
The city was garrisoned by a thousand troops.
Word forms
| plural | garrisons |
|---|---|
| third person singular | garrisons |
| past tense | garrisoned |
| past participle | garrisoned |
| -ing form | garrisoning |
Common combinations
- garrison town
- The garrison town was full of soldiers and their families.
- garrison duty
- He was assigned to garrison duty in a remote area.
- garrison commander
- The garrison commander ordered a lockdown.
- garrison troops
- They garrisoned troops along the frontier.
Synonyms and how they differ
- troops
- Troops is a general term for soldiers; a garrison is specifically a group stationed in one place for defense.
- base
- A base is a permanent military facility; a garrison can be any defended place where soldiers are stationed.
Word family
- garrisoned adjective
- Describing a place protected by soldiers: a garrisoned city.
Practice
The town was ______ by a small group of soldiers.
Choose one answer.
The passive voice 'was garrisoned' is correct because the town received the action. 'Garrison' as a verb would need an active subject, and 'garrisoning' would require a form of 'be' like 'was garrisoning' (active).
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “garrison”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.