Dictionary.com
definitions

dead soldier

See more synonyms for dead soldier on Thesaurus.com
noun Slang.
  1. an empty beer, liquor, or wine bottle or empty beer can.

Origin of dead soldier

First recorded in 1915–20
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for dead soldier

vial, glass, urn, jar, jug, ewer, flask, soldier, decanter, canteen, flagon, cruet, phial, carafe
British Dictionary definitions for dead soldier

dead soldier

dead marine

noun
  1. informal an empty beer or spirit bottle
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
Idioms and Phrases with dead soldier

dead soldier

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.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.