volunteer

American  

[vol-uhn-teer] / ˌvɒl ənˈtɪər /

noun

• volunteers
  plural

1. a person who voluntarily offers to perform a service or other undertaking.

2. a person who performs a service willingly and without pay.

3. Military. a person who enters the service voluntarily rather than through conscription or draft, especially for special or temporary service rather than as a member of the regular or permanent army.

4. Law.

   1. a person whose actions are not founded on any legal obligation so to act.

   2. a person who steps into a matter that does not concern them, such as a person who pays the debt of another where they are neither legally nor morally bound to do so and has no interest to protect in making the payment.

5. Agriculture. Also volunteer plant a plant that springs up spontaneously, without being seeded, planted, or cultivated by a person.

   We didn't plant any watermelons this year, but look at all the volunteers from last year's crop.

6. Volunteer. a native or inhabitant of Tennessee (used as a nickname).

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adjective

1. of, relating to, or being a person who voluntarily offers to do something.

   a volunteer fireman.

2. Agriculture. growing without being seeded, planted, or cultivated by a person; springing up spontaneously.

   volunteer tomatoes.

verb (used without object)

• volunteers,
  present (3rd person singular)
• volunteered,
  past participle,  past
• volunteering
  present participle

1. to offer oneself for some service or undertaking.

2. to enter service or enlist voluntarily.

verb (used with object)

• volunteers,
  present (3rd person singular)
• volunteered,
  past participle,  past
• volunteering
  present participle

1. to offer (oneself or one's services) for some undertaking or purpose.

2. to give, bestow, or perform voluntarily.

   to volunteer a song.

3. to say, tell, or communicate voluntarily.

   to volunteer an explanation.

4. to promise the services of (someone) without having asked if it is something they actually can or want to do.

   He volunteered me to sand and paint the bottom of the boat, and I don’t have the slightest interest in sanding, painting, or boating.

volunteer British  

/ ˌvɒlənˈtɪə /

noun

1. 1. a person who performs or offers to perform voluntary service

   2. ( as modifier )

      a volunteer system

      volunteer advice

2. a person who freely undertakes military service, esp temporary or special service

3. law

   1. a person who does some act or enters into a transaction without being under any legal obligation to do so and without being promised any remuneration for his services

   2. property law a person to whom property is transferred without his giving any valuable consideration in return, as a legatee under a will

4. 1. a plant that grows from seed that has not been deliberately sown

   2. ( as modifier )

      a volunteer plant

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verb

1. to offer (oneself or one's services) for an undertaking by choice and without request or obligation

2. (tr) to perform, give, or communicate voluntarily

   to volunteer help

   to volunteer a speech

3. (intr) to enlist voluntarily for military service

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• prevolunteer
  noun
• unvolunteering
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• volunteers
  plural

Participles

• volunteering
  present
• volunteered
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• volunteer
  simple
• volunteers
  simple
• have volunteered
  perfect
• has volunteered
  perfect
• am volunteering
  progressive
• are volunteering
  progressive
• is volunteering
  progressive
• have been volunteering
  perfect progressive
• has been volunteering
  perfect progressive

Past

• volunteered
  simple
• had volunteered
  perfect
• was volunteering
  progressive
• were volunteering
  progressive
• had been volunteering
  perfect progressive

Future

• will volunteer
  simple
• will have volunteered
  perfect
• will be volunteering
  progressive
• will have been volunteering
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of volunteer

First recorded in 1590–1600; from French volontaire, from Latin voluntārius voluntary, with -eer for French -aire

Explanation

To volunteer means to freely offer up your time and service to help. So a volunteer might offer to water a neighbor's plants while he's on vacation or sign up to serve dinner at a local homeless shelter. When it came into usage circa 1600, the noun volunteer referred to a person who offered himself up for military service. It wasn't until a few decades later that the word was first used in a non-military sense. And a little over a hundred years after that, volunteer expanded from functioning as just a noun to also playing the role of verb. A volunteer is someone who volunteers: willingly performs a task or offers a service.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

volunteer volunteers volunteered volunteering

Many users have been happy to essentially volunteer themselves for further testing.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026

“What we didn’t realize was that the public can watch, but there’s no talking allowed,” Michael Lavina, a protest organizer and volunteer with the local chapter of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, told me.

From Slate ● Aug. 6, 2026

In West Texas, El Paso Electric asked homeowners served by its most crowded feeders to volunteer to have Base batteries installed.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026

Roland Burt, a local artist and community volunteer, is hoping to help set up a permanent hub for uniforms in the city.

From BBC ● Aug. 2, 2026

Especially Calvin “Big-Headed” Faribault, who actually raised his hand, and I just knew it was to volunteer out of the kindness of his big, fat, big-headed heart.

From "Ida B" by Katherine Hannigan

The Pensychnant reserve is supported by volunteers who help preserve and run the centre, including Gwyndaf Pritchard, from Dwygyfylchi.

From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026

Dozens of volunteers meanwhile dig downwards into collapsed buildings in the coastal Caraballeda neighborhood, as in other parts of the worst-hit La Guaira state.

From Barron's ● Aug. 6, 2026

Smaller-scale demolition in Gary’s residential neighborhoods, carried out by volunteers, has already sparked progress.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026

In late July, Nguyen and her teenage volunteers dragged wagons of groceries provided by Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez’s office to residents living in single-room occupancy hotels, or SROs.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026

A couple of volunteers tell all these people on the sidewalk to leave.

From "On the Come Up" by Angie Thomas

Over 180,000 people volunteered nationwide in 2023–2024, according to the government-backed Natural Hazards Research Australia.

From Barron's ● Aug. 3, 2026

“Having this opportunity to have tickets for these kids and families, it’s going to be beyond their wildest dreams,” said Washington, who volunteered in the opening ceremony at the 1984 L.A.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026

She volunteered to walk them out to their cars, using her white body as a kind of shield.

From Slate ● Jul. 27, 2026

He previously volunteered at the 2023 UCI cycling championships.

From BBC ● Jul. 16, 2026

Some of the women who’d volunteered for her aviation regiments were going to have to face disappointment, because they were going to have to do jobs that kept them on the ground.

From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein

They talk about its European-style organizing model, its uneasy alliance with the Democratic Party, the primacy of canvassing and volunteering, and the art of compromise.

From Slate ● Jul. 30, 2026

"We fear today," said Jeremy Presi, a local business owner volunteering to help firefighters at a water refilling station.

From Barron's ● Jul. 29, 2026

At Grimsby Town Football Club, we heard from Christine Green, who started volunteering for the club during a difficult period in her life.

From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026

As they exited the modeling industry, they pivoted into animal activism and volunteering for rescue groups and trap, neuter and return programs for cats.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2026

“It’s all good. How long have you been volunteering here?”

From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold

Related Words

• come forward
• enlist
• sign up
• step forward
• suggest