silent service
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of silent service
First recorded in 1935–40
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.
The newest exhibit explores the silent service through the generations, including diverse perspectives and more controversial topics such as hazing.
From Seattle Times • Feb. 14, 2024
Retired last week after 37 years in the Army, Petraeus will be sworn in as the 20th director of the so-called silent service in a private ceremony Tuesday.
From Washington Post • Sep. 6, 2011
Britain's Navy proudly calls itself the silent service, but last week First Lord of the Admiralty Albert Victor Alexander let slip a significant phrase: "The strain upon our destroyer fleet has been very great."
From Time Magazine Archive
Today "the silent service" fostered by Rickover is the foundation of U.S. sea power, and missile-launching subs make up the least vulnerable leg of the U.S. strategic triad.
From Time Magazine Archive
THE more difficult part, viz., that of perfectly preparing the victory, is a silent service of which the merit belongs to Strategy and yet for which it is hardly sufficiently commended.
From On War — Volume 1 by Graham, J. J., Colonel
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.
