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

See Examples For:

dead soldier

In others, the "ghost" of the dead soldier appears to embrace his family from heaven.

From BBC ● Jun. 13, 2026

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 ● Oct. 6, 2023

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

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2023

Chad Workman reportedly received a medal from Biden after attempting to retrieve a dead soldier from a burning vehicle.

From Fox News ● Aug. 29, 2019

She thought it was better to have a live lover, even though he were a hundred miles away, than a dead soldier.

From The Web of the Golden Spider by Fisher, Harrison

Related Words

• glass
• jar
• jug
• urn
• vial