dead soldier

American  

noun

Slang.

1. an empty beer, liquor, or wine bottle or empty beer can.

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dead soldier British  

noun

1. informal  an empty beer or spirit bottle

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dead soldier Idioms  

1. Also, dead man. An empty liquor, wine, or beer bottle, as in Their trash barrel's full of dead soldiers; they must drink a lot, or That dead man sticking out of your pocket alerted the officer to the fact that you'd been drinking. Dead man has been slang for “empty bottle” since the late 1600s but has been largely replaced by dead soldier, dating from the late 1800s.

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Etymology

Origin of dead soldier

First recorded in 1915–20

Example Sentences

“We will never find the last dead soldier. And today there is a new war. So this lesson wasn’t enough for you?”

From New York Times

In Gaza, the militants filmed themselves pulling a dead soldier’s body from a car.

From Seattle Times

Their son-in-law was friends with Andrii Kozyr, and though they shared a last name, he wasn’t related to the dead soldier.

From Seattle Times

"Now that Kelly is coming forward to bash Trump over his views of vets, remember when he attacked Rep Frederica Wilson for criticizing Trump's handling of a dead soldier's widow? Kelly called her 'all hat & no cattle,' & misrepresented comments she made. What changed?" questioned The Messenger's Marc Caputo.

From Salon

Jibo is a bit of a dead soldier whose commanding officers went out of business.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• glass
• jar
• jug
• urn
• vial