a strong person with great power of endurance or resistance.
(initial capital letter) an epithet or nickname of Edmund II.
(initial capital letter) Usually Ironsides
(used with a singular verb) a nickname of Oliver Cromwell.
the soldiers serving under Cromwell.
(usually used with a singular verb) ironsides,
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English; see origin at iron, side 1
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
That man had he lived in Oliver’s time would have made a capital ironside, especially if mounted on one of those dray horses of his.
From Lavengro The Scholar, the Gypsy, the Priest by Knapp, William
He displayed in his palm three silver dollars and the coolie bent his back to the sweep, the sampan heeling out from the black ironside like a thing alive.
From Peter the Brazen A Mystery Story of Modern China by Hoskins, Gayle Porter
Fortified with strong actors in small roles — Michael Ironside as a pit bull C.O.O.,
From New York Times ● May 11, 2023
Zim and Michael Ironside as ferocious squad leader Jean Rasczak.
From Washington Times ● Dec. 4, 2022
With five seconds to go, Ironside ran it in from the 6, but Cornell secured the kickoff to end it.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 17, 2022
Meanwhile, his other TV credits include "The Lone Ranger," "The Loretta Young Show," "Wagon Train," "Ironside," "The Flying Nun," "The Mod Squad," "Combat," "Ellery Queen," "Murder, She Wrote" and "Clueless."
From Fox News ● Jan. 9, 2022
Alfred and Edmund Ironside defeated the Danes in this vicinity.
From Curiosities of Great Britain: England and Wales Delineated Vol.1-11 Historical, Entertaining & Commercial; Alphabetically Arranged. 11 Volume set. by Dugdale, Thomas Cantrell
With "his ironsides" and the Scottish horse he had driven the royal cavalry, under the earl of Newcastle, from their position on the left.
From The History of England from the First Invasion by the Romans to the Accession of King George the Fifth Volume 8 by Belloc, Hilaire
"Do you honestly mean it when you say she is not an elderly ironsides with spectacles?"
From The Nest Builder by Hale, Beatrice Forbes-Robertson
It was the old Sixth corps—the "ironsides" from the Potomac army, who learned how to fight under brave John Sedgwick.
From Personal Recollections of a Cavalryman With Custer's Michigan Cavalry Brigade in the Civil War by Kidd, James Harvey
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.
