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

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

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2023

The Ukrainian military’s general staff gave the same name for the dead soldier, saying it was “according to preliminary information.”

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 7, 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

May be General McPherson gave you that and may be you stole it from the pocket of a dead soldier.

From Four Years A Scout and Spy by Downs, E. C.

Related Words

• glass
• jar
• jug
• urn
• vial