volunteer

American  

[vol-uhn-teer] / ˌvɒl ənˈtɪər /

noun

volunteers plural

1. a person who voluntarily offers to perform a service or other undertaking.

2. a person who performs a service willingly and without pay.

3. Military. a person who enters the service voluntarily rather than through conscription or draft, especially for special or temporary service rather than as a member of the regular or permanent army.

4. Law.

   1. a person whose actions are not founded on any legal obligation so to act.

   2. a person who steps into a matter that does not concern them, such as a person who pays the debt of another where they are neither legally nor morally bound to do so and has no interest to protect in making the payment.

5. Agriculture. Also volunteer plant a plant that springs up spontaneously, without being seeded, planted, or cultivated by a person.

   We didn't plant any watermelons this year, but look at all the volunteers from last year's crop.

6. Volunteer. a native or inhabitant of Tennessee (used as a nickname).

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adjective

1. of, relating to, or being a person who voluntarily offers to do something.

   a volunteer fireman.

2. Agriculture. growing without being seeded, planted, or cultivated by a person; springing up spontaneously.

   volunteer tomatoes.

verb (used without object)

volunteers, present (3rd person singular) volunteered, past participle, past volunteering present participle

1. to offer oneself for some service or undertaking.

2. to enter service or enlist voluntarily.

verb (used with object)

volunteers, present (3rd person singular) volunteered, past participle, past volunteering present participle

1. to offer (oneself or one's services) for some undertaking or purpose.

2. to give, bestow, or perform voluntarily.

   to volunteer a song.

3. to say, tell, or communicate voluntarily.

   to volunteer an explanation.

4. to promise the services of (someone) without having asked if it is something they actually can or want to do.

   He volunteered me to sand and paint the bottom of the boat, and I don’t have the slightest interest in sanding, painting, or boating.

volunteer British  

/ ˌvɒlənˈtɪə /

noun

1. 1. a person who performs or offers to perform voluntary service

   2. ( as modifier )

      a volunteer system

      volunteer advice

2. a person who freely undertakes military service, esp temporary or special service

3. law

   1. a person who does some act or enters into a transaction without being under any legal obligation to do so and without being promised any remuneration for his services

   2. property law a person to whom property is transferred without his giving any valuable consideration in return, as a legatee under a will

4. 1. a plant that grows from seed that has not been deliberately sown

   2. ( as modifier )

      a volunteer plant

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verb

1. to offer (oneself or one's services) for an undertaking by choice and without request or obligation

2. (tr) to perform, give, or communicate voluntarily

   to volunteer help

   to volunteer a speech

3. (intr) to enlist voluntarily for military service

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• prevolunteer
  noun
• unvolunteering
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• volunteers
  plural

Participles

• volunteering
  present
• volunteered
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• volunteer
  simple
• volunteers
  simple
• have volunteered
  perfect
• has volunteered
  perfect
• am volunteering
  progressive
• are volunteering
  progressive
• is volunteering
  progressive
• have been volunteering
  perfect progressive
• has been volunteering
  perfect progressive

Past

• volunteered
  simple
• had volunteered
  perfect
• was volunteering
  progressive
• were volunteering
  progressive
• had been volunteering
  perfect progressive

Future

• will volunteer
  simple
• will have volunteered
  perfect
• will be volunteering
  progressive
• will have been volunteering
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of volunteer

First recorded in 1590–1600; from French volontaire, from Latin voluntārius voluntary, with -eer for French -aire

Explanation

To volunteer means to freely offer up your time and service to help. So a volunteer might offer to water a neighbor's plants while he's on vacation or sign up to serve dinner at a local homeless shelter. When it came into usage circa 1600, the noun volunteer referred to a person who offered himself up for military service. It wasn't until a few decades later that the word was first used in a non-military sense. And a little over a hundred years after that, volunteer expanded from functioning as just a noun to also playing the role of verb. A volunteer is someone who volunteers: willingly performs a task or offers a service.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

volunteer volunteers volunteered volunteering

"Now it's starting to take its toll," said the volunteer, who runs a metalworking shop in the nearby seaside town of Andernos-les-Bains with her husband.

From Barron's ● Jul. 30, 2026

The first volunteer in the world - a 37-year-old UK man called Ed Hunt - has received an experimental vaccine against the Ebola virus.

From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026

Holliday spends her volunteer time socializing over coffee and the newspaper, helping residents run errands, leading fitness classes on Saturday mornings and organizing game nights.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 24, 2026

Homeowners spend thousands to ward off the pantry-raiding, toothpaste-sniffing beasts, exposing a rift among volunteer groups.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026

“We volunteer to be bread tasters,” Beowulf announced.

From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood

In contrast to a firm with employees, "the CDU depends on volunteers, on elected lawmakers, you can't boss them around," Strohmann told the Tagesspiegel newspaper on Wednesday.

From Barron's ● Jul. 29, 2026

But it commands an army of devoted volunteers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026

The club in Blaenau Gwent supported 330 children and relied on the goodwill of fundraisers, parents and volunteers to raise the money to keep going after the fraud.

From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026

Walking trails, native gardens and playpens ring the structure, watched over by an army of volunteers.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026

Even before the United States officially entered the war, American volunteers were fighting alongside the Allies in Europe.

From "The War to End All Wars: World War I" by Russell Freedman

She volunteered to walk them out to their cars, using her white body as a kind of shield.

From Slate ● Jul. 27, 2026

“If that is something that he wants to do,” Rams coach Sean McVay volunteered Saturday as players clocked in, “we are going to try to be able to make that happen.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 26, 2026

Cheri Yecke, 71, read the series to daughters Anastasia Gude, 49, and Tiffany Brooks, 47, before they could read, then volunteered for bedtime-story duty with her granddaughter Bridget Brooks, now 10.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026

It brings together archive records as well as testimonies from victims and survivors, their relatives and people who worked or volunteered for the institutions.

From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2026

By midnight on Tuesday evening, more than fifty undergraduates had volunteered.

From "1919 The Year That Changed America" by Martin W. Sandler

"We fear today," said Jeremy Presi, a local business owner volunteering to help firefighters at a water refilling station.

From Barron's ● Jul. 29, 2026

A day later Cardiff Rugby academy players found the tub while doing volunteering work, and handed it to park officials.

From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026

She was outgoing and active and enjoyed surfing, skateboarding, snowboarding and volunteering at a farm once a week, Walker said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2026

“It’s a shame that not as many people are volunteering to do these things because it really is an important part of the fabric of our country.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 3, 2026

"This is my fourth year volunteering here. Can't get enough of this!"

From "The Sky at Our Feet" by Nadia Hashimi

Related Words

• come forward
• enlist
• sign up
• step forward
• suggest