silent service
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of silent service
First recorded in 1935–40
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The newest exhibit explores the silent service through the generations, including diverse perspectives and more controversial topics such as hazing.
From Seattle Times • Feb. 14, 2024
Retired last week after 37 years in the Army, Petraeus will be sworn in as the 20th director of the so-called silent service in a private ceremony Tuesday.
From Washington Post • Sep. 6, 2011
Submariners, who were having trouble attracting the best manpower to volunteer for the "silent service," gave enthusiastic cooperation to the writers.
From Time Magazine Archive
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To Admiral King of "the silent service," loquacity is a vice, and in public he has said very little.
From Time Magazine Archive
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In that moment he had his reward for months of silent service, of patience strained almost to breaking point, of anxiety that bordered on despair.
From Captain Desmond, V.C. by Diver, Maud
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.