dead soldier

American  

noun

Slang.

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

---

dead soldier British  

noun

1. informal an empty beer or spirit bottle

---

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.

---

Etymology

Origin of dead soldier

First recorded in 1915–20

Example Sentences

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

One is titled “On the Deck of a Spanish Sailing Ship, 1492”; others are about a dead soldier, a basketball player surrounded by disadvantages, a man imprisoned.

From New York Times • Oct. 20, 2021

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

For some days he had been working at a sketch in charcoal of a Victory laying a wreath on the brow of a dead soldier, who had died for the fatherland.

From The Gods are Athirst by Jackson, Emilie

Related Words

• glass
• jar
• jug
• urn
• vial