soldier

American  

[sohl-jer] / ˈsoʊl dʒər /

noun

1. a person who serves in an army; a person engaged in military service.

2. an enlisted person, as distinguished from a commissioned officer.

   the soldiers' mess and the officers' mess.

3. a person of military skill or experience.

   George Washington was a great soldier.

4. a person who contends or serves in any cause.

   a soldier of the Lord.

5. Also called button man.  Slang. a low-ranking member of a crime organization or syndicate.

6. Entomology.

   1. a member of a caste of sexually underdeveloped female ants or termites specialized, as with powerful jaws, to defend the colony from invaders.

   2. a similar member of a caste of worker bees, specialized to protect the hive.

7. a brick laid vertically with the narrower long face out.

8. Informal. a person who avoids work or pretends to work; loafer; malingerer.

---

verb (used without object)

1. to act or serve as a soldier.

2. Informal. to loaf while pretending to work; malinger.

   He was soldiering on the job.

verb phrase

1. soldier on to persist steadfastly in one's work; persevere.

   to soldier on until the work is done.

soldier British  

/ ˈsəʊldʒə /

noun

1. 1. a person who serves or has served in an army

   2. Also called: common soldier.  a noncommissioned member of an army as opposed to a commissioned officer

2. a person who works diligently for a cause

3. a low-ranking member of the Mafia or other organized crime ring

4. zoology

   1. an individual in a colony of social insects, esp ants, that has powerful jaws adapted for defending the colony, crushing large food particles, etc

   2. ( as modifier )

      soldier ant

5. informal a strip of bread or toast that is dipped into a soft-boiled egg

---

verb

1. to serve as a soldier

2. obsolete to malinger or shirk

Other Word Forms

• nonsoldier noun
• soldiership noun

Etymology

Origin of soldier

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English souldiour, from Old French soudier, so(i)dier, equivalent to soulde “pay” (from Latin solidus; sol ² ) + -ier -ier ²

Example Sentences

High in the treetops of a South American rainforest, scientists have identified a tiny soldier termite with a surprisingly whale-like appearance.

From Science Daily • Apr. 1, 2026

Another soldier was severely wounded and a reservist moderately wounded, the IDF said.

From BBC • Mar. 31, 2026

“He’s a soldier at heart that carries out his orders dutifully, and that makes him valuable to her.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 18, 2026

"He is running and carrying something on his back," adds another soldier.

From BBC • Mar. 15, 2026

I asked the French soldier, continuing in French, “Did you hear that? He says you are not to charge.”

From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse

Related Words

• commando
• fighter
• guard
• guerrilla
• marine
• mercenary
• officer
• paratrooper
• pilot
• trooper
• veteran
• volunteer