lance corporal
Americannoun
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lance corporals
plural
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U.S. Marine Corps. an enlisted person ranking between private first class and corporal.
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British Military.
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a corporal of the lowest rank.
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(formerly) a private acting as corporal without increased pay.
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noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of lance corporal
1780–90; lance, shortened form of earlier lancepesade < Middle French lancepessade lowest ranking grade of noncommissioned officer < Italian lancia spezzata superior soldier, literally, broken lance 1 (from having shivered many lances, i.e., fought well in many battles)
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.
Aguilera, 22, enlisted in March 2023 and was promoted to lance corporal in May 2024, according to the Marine 1st Division.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 17, 2025
Jean Macdonald was a lance corporal in the Women's Royal Army Corps.
From BBC ● Nov. 2, 2022
During his time in the capital he was made lance corporal, then corporal, before being promoted to sergeant in 2019.
From Reuters ● Oct. 7, 2022
Marine Corps lance corporal stationed at a military base, according to court-martial records obtained by The Post.
From Washington Post ● May 5, 2022
The lance corporal looks around the room—the coal stove, the hanging laundry, the undersize children—with equal measures of condescension and hostility.
From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
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