Gurkha

American  

[gur-kuh, goor-] / ˈgɜr kə, ˈgʊər- /

noun

Gurkhas, plural Gurkha plural

1. a member of a Rajput people, Hindu in religion, who achieved dominion over Nepal in the 18th century.

2. a Nepalese soldier in the British or Indian army.

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Gurkha British  

/ ˈɡɜːkə, ˈɡʊəkɑː /

noun

1. a member of a Hindu people, descended from Brahmins and Rajputs, living chiefly in Nepal, where they achieved dominance after being driven from India by the Muslims

2. a member of this people serving as a soldier in the Indian or British army

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• Gurkha
  plural
• Gurkhas
  plural

Etymology

Origin of Gurkha

First recorded in 1805–15

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Gurkha Gurkhas

He was in one with a Gurkha unit, but continued to film.

From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2025

For centuries, Nepali nationals were recruited by the British army to fight as famed Gurkha soldiers and later by India when it gained independence from Britain.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 25, 2024

And earlier, Hari Budha Magar, a former Gurkha soldier who lives in Britain, summited Everest with prosthetic legs.

From BBC ● Jun. 8, 2023

Hundreds of Nepalese youths are recruited every year to work as Gurkha soldiers, who are known for their fighting skills and bravery.

From Washington Times ● May 23, 2023

In the meanwhile, Luke's guns on the extreme right, Fuller's battery at Palla, and Marindin's guns at the Gurkha outpost threw a stream of shrapnel on all parts of the jong.

From The Unveiling of Lhasa by Candler, Edmund

Chemaf’s founder, Shiraz Virji, son of a Zanzibar spice merchant, once hired dozens of Gurkhas, Nepalese soldiers with a reputation for fierceness, to guard one of the company’s mines against incursions by informal miners.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 31, 2026

Young Nepali men have long left to fight for the British Army -- the famous Gurkhas -- a tradition that goes back to the late 19th century.

From Barron's ● Feb. 16, 2026

Some 1,500 military personnel have also been deployed since Tuesday night among them Gurkhas and Paratroopers, Royal Navy Police and Royal Military Police, and RAF personnel in their blue-grey uniforms.

From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2022

Tens of thousands of Gurkhas now serve in the Indian army, including in counterinsurgency operations in the Himalayan territory of Kashmir and the northeastern states.

From Reuters ● Aug. 29, 2022

Almost daily sallies, which often turned into pitched battles, were made by the rebels upon the over-worked handful of Europeans, Sikhs and Gurkhas.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 7, Slice 10 "David, St" to "Demidov" by Various