foot soldier
Americannoun
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an infantryman.
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a dedicated low-level follower.
noun
Etymology
Origin of foot soldier
First recorded in 1615–25
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.
Kudryashev said a commander dispatched him and another foot soldier with the goal of reaching a point in a forest near Kreminna in eastern Ukraine.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 12, 2026
Speaking about the Mind Flayer, he says, “If the Demogorgon was just his foot soldier, Vecna’s his five-star general.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 20, 2025
"He was an enthusiastic foot soldier in that conspiracy," Erik Kenerson, a prosecutor, told the judge on Friday.
From Reuters ● Sep. 1, 2023
The first is his deep understanding of India’s grass roots, developed over decades as a foot soldier and evangelist of the Hindu right.
From New York Times ● Jun. 21, 2023
Allen took the bus back and forth, eager to listen to King and to keep marching as a foot soldier in the struggle for racial equality.
From "Boots on the Ground: America's War in Vietnam" by Elizabeth Partridge
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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.