definitions

Old Contemptibles

pl n

the British expeditionary force to France in 1914

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Word Origin for Old Contemptibles

so named from the Kaiser's alleged reference to them as a ``contemptible little army''
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