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Johnny Reb

American  
[reb] / rɛb /

noun

Informal.
  1. U.S. History. a Confederate soldier.

  2. a native or inhabitant of the southern U.S., especially of one of the former Confederate states; southerner.


Johnny Reb British  

noun

  1. informal (in the American Civil War) a Confederate soldier

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of Johnny Reb

An Americanism dating back to 1860–65


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.

See Examples For:

So Johnny Reb sits, in 13 pieces, in Boykin’s yard, 150 feet off the road, waiting for somebody to put him back together again.

From Washington Post ● May 29, 2021

Now, she said, with Johnny Reb tucked in the back of the graveyard’s Confederate Section, “nobody talks about it anymore.”

From Washington Post ● May 29, 2021

I live not far from the Johnny Reb statue that was the subject of Courtland Milloy’s April 13 Metro column, “Why Johnny Reb belongs in a cemetery.”

From Washington Post ● Apr. 15, 2016

Cheer up, Johnny Reb: The SEC East went 5-0 in its bowls.

From Newsweek

"Tell Johnny Reb," says Hunter, lifting up the leather side-piece of the ambulance, "that I 'll be back again as soon as I get a new leg."

From Quite So by Thomas Bailey Aldrich

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