sapper
noun
a soldier employed in the construction of fortifications, trenches, or tunnels that approach or undermine enemy positions.
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sapper
American
[sap-er]
/ ˈsæp ər /
noun
sapper
1
British
/ ˈsæpə /
noun
-
a soldier who digs trenches
-
(in the British Army) a private of the Royal Engineers
Sapper
2
British
/ ˈsæpə /
noun
Etymology
Origin of sapper
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
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George Batts, who lived in Barming, near Maidstone, Kent, was an 18-year-old sapper when he landed in France on Gold Beach in June 1944.
From BBC ● Nov. 8, 2022
He was a sapper in the Royal Engineers, attached to the Parachute Regiment for a few days, with the specific job of clearing barricades.
From BBC ● Dec. 3, 2018
A sapper contracted a fever and realized that her wisdom teeth were coming in.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 4, 2017
The newspaper Novoya Gazeta published an interview with the mother of 20-year-old sapper Vadim Tumanov, alongside a photograph of an official notice informing the local military commissar about his death.
From The Guardian ● Sep. 3, 2014
He promised that we would soon have a satire acted upon the rebels, writ by the notorious wit Major-General Burgoyne, with curtain-tunes and airs by this same excellent sapper to please the crowd.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
Others buried there include a recipient of the Victoria Cross, George Wheeler, and the grandfather of the actress Charlotte Rampling – Sapper Harris Johnson Rampling.
From BBC ● Nov. 8, 2025
It also noted Sapper Morrison should have had a routine fitness assessment upon arriving at the Suffolk barracks a week prior.
From BBC ● Mar. 2, 2024
Meyer sat with the youngest sister Sapper in the public gallery of courtroom for Wednesday’s hearing.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 20, 2023
Elly Sapper, 34, later told the court she had questioned whether she wanted to relive the trauma that has affected more than half her life.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 27, 2023
Sapper Pinch was a friend of mine, with one or two near relations in the R.A.M.C.
From Notes of a Camp-Follower on the Western Front by E. W. (Ernest William) Hornung
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
