queen's shilling

American

noun

king's shilling.

queen's shilling British

noun

(until 1879) a shilling paid to new recruits to the British army
archaic to enlist in the 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

Etymology

Origin of queen's shilling

First recorded in 1875–80

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023