squad

Etymology 1

From French escouade, from Italian squadra (“square”) (whence also French escadre).

noun

1. A group of people organized for some common purpose, usually of about ten members.
   1. A unit of tactical military personnel, or of police officers, usually of about ten members.
      A squad of soldiers ordered them to disperse but instead of doing so they commenced throwing ice and rocks. 1912, The New England magazine, volume 47
   2. (cricket, soccer, rugby) A group of potential players from whom a starting team and substitutes are chosen.
   3. (informal) A collective noun for a group of squid.
      At one point, the 400-ton Calypso was brought to a standstill by a squad of squid which clogged the engines and caused a power failure. Other, highlights included an attack by predatory blue sharks, […] 1970, TV Guide
      The Sea Life Centre retains a squad of squid and such. 2002, Let's Go Inc., Let's Go 2003: Britain & Ireland, Let's Go Publications
      There's several new symbols next to the doorway symbol. Beso pushed all six of them without waiting to see what they brought; like a herd of charging rhinos or rampaging squad of squid. Next best thing though. 2012, S. Louis King, Gnome Home Papers, AuthorHouse, page 546
      I pulled in as deep a breath as my gag allowed and began relaxing my body. I used a little trick I'd learned in college. I imagined that a friendly squad of squid were massaging every muscle on the bottoms of my feet; the tension began to drain. 2017, Kristen Joy Wilks, Athens Ambuscade, Pelican Ventures Book Group
2. (slang) One's friend group, taken collectively; one's peeps.
   anyway, sheʼs resigned herself to hanging out with the squad at uni rather than going manhunting 2019, Bernardine Evaristo, Girl, Woman, Other, Penguin Books (2020), page 52

verb

1. (intransitive) To act as part of, or on behalf of, a squad.
   We squad on the fifth of the month.
2. (transitive, US, medical slang) To transport by ambulance.

Etymology 2

Uncertain. Compare squick (“disgust”), squalid (“dirty”) with similar initial sounds.

noun

1. (UK, dialect) Sloppy mud.
   The lass ran all among the muck and squad. 1875 March 13, Leicester Chronicle, quoted in the EDD
   An' she did n't not solidly mean I wur / gawin' that waäy to the bad, 1895, Alfred Tennyson, The Poetical Works of Alfred Tennyson: Poet-laureate, page 791