formation
119
3.6
- noun
- /fɔːrˈmeɪʃən/
- During the exercise, the team arranged themselves in a strategic formation to maximize their effectiveness.
- a military formation
- fly in formation
- a political formation
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Watch on YouTubeTheir enemy rides in formation on horseback.
- Their enemy rides in formation on horseback.
- Like it is damning that we saw a formation yesterday that had no striker in it.
- And then one of his friends points his fingers in like gun formation and goes put them all down.
- You can put yourself in formation with the information.
- Now, once they surround them, they stay in this exact formation because they know how he's shaped.
- I go tell the coach before the game coach this this slot formation.
Examples
-
Twenty-four hours later, the Gothas returned, flying in neat fan-like formation into the heart of London.
Fiction book (1994) -
About ten soldiers stood in formation in the middle of the deserted and crumbling crossroads.
Fiction book (1994) -
It's a perfect V formation, just incredible.
-
So we'll get to enjoy them in the circle formation one more year.
-
This is kind of the ideal formation for our opponents.
-
Soldiers from the local garrison were in formation to the east of the square.
Academic text (1991) -
Clay has a bird's eye view of the formation, spread out in perfect "Vs" across the sky.
Fiction book (1990) -
Twelve aeroplanes in perfect formation, like a flight of wild ducks, came overhead.
Academic text (2017) -
The ducks flew in a perfect formation across the lake.
-
The soldiers maintained a tight formation as they marched through the parade.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
A row of people or things standing one behind another
826
1.0
The arrangement of things in a neat sequence
188
2.7
The way things are placed or organized in a place
95
4.8
How parts are arranged in something, like furniture or a machine
61
2.7
Arranging people or things in a neat, planned order
3
6.6
A group of people gathered for a common purpose, like at a meeting
2
2.7
Bringing parts or people together to make one whole
1
2.5
Putting people and things together because they are similar or have the same purpose
1
4.8
A group of soldiers who move in a set pattern to fight
Compounds
- Specialized
3
4.4
A natural layer of rock or soil that looks different from the layers around it
- Specialized
1
8.7
A network of nerve cells deep in the brain that helps control being awake, attention, sleep, and muscle tone
- Specialized
1
9.3
A way a person acts without knowing to hide feelings by doing the opposite
- Specialized
1
6.7
The heat released or absorbed per mole when a compound forms from its elements under standard conditions
- Specialized
Making a new phrase by translating the words of one from another language, for example skyscraper from French
- Specialized
When a high energy light particle turns into an electron and a positron near an atomic nucleus
How Organized
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Formation comes from the basic root form, which means 'shape' or 'to make'. Think of birds flying in a V: that V is a formation because the birds are put into a clear 'shape' or order.