askari

[ as-kuh-ree ]

/ ˈæs kə ri /

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noun, plural as·ka·ris, as·ka·ri.

an African police officer or soldier, especially one serving a colonial administration.

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Origin of askari

First recorded in 1805–10; from Swahili, from Arabic ʿaskarī “soldier,” equivalent to ʿaskar “army” (from Persian lashkar) + -ī a suffix indicating relationship or origin); see origin at lascar

Words nearby askari

ask, ask after, askance, Ask, and it shall be given you, askarel, askari, ask a stupid question and you'll get a stupid answer, askew, Askey, ask for, ask for the moon

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use askari in a sentence

It has been six months since unknown insurgents destroyed the Al-Askari mosque in Samarra.
Whatever You Do Someone Will Die. A Short Story About Impossible Choices in Iraq|Nathan Bradley Bethea|August 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Graceful as a deer was Nazoro, and a good Askari lost in a better operating-room boy.
Sketches of the East Africa Campaign|Robert Valentine Dolbey
Loads were piled neatly, covered with a tarpaulin, and the pile guarded by an askari.
The Leopard Woman|Stewart Edward White
He thought of going out to join the askari, or native guard, who was keeping watch some thirty feet away.
The Forest of Mystery|James H. Foster

It seemed absolutely endless, and once or twice I feared that two of the Askari would have died of the wet, cold, and exposure.
Allan Quatermain|H. Rider Haggard
Fortunately there were at Lamu at this time a party of Wakwafi Askari (soldiers).
Allan Quatermain|H. Rider Haggard

British Dictionary definitions for askari

askari

/ (asˈkaːri) /

noun

(in East Africa) a soldier or policeman

Word Origin for askari

C19: from Arabic: soldier

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012