soldier
a person who serves in an army; a person engaged in military service.
an enlisted person, as distinguished from a commissioned officer: the soldiers' mess and the officers' mess.
a person of military skill or experience: George Washington was a great soldier.
a person who contends or serves in any cause: a soldier of the Lord.
Also called button man .Slang. a low-ranking member of a crime organization or syndicate.
Entomology.
a member of a caste of sexually underdeveloped female ants or termites specialized, as with powerful jaws, to defend the colony from invaders.
a similar member of a caste of worker bees, specialized to protect the hive.
a brick laid vertically with the narrower long face out.: Compare rowlock (def. 2).
Informal. a person who avoids work or pretends to work; loafer; malingerer.
to act or serve as a soldier.
Informal. to loaf while pretending to work; malinger: He was soldiering on the job.
soldier on, to persist steadfastly in one's work; persevere: to soldier on until the work is done.
Origin of soldier
1Other words from soldier
- sol·dier·ship, noun
- non·sol·dier, noun
Words Nearby soldier
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use soldier in a sentence
The shading of a cell indicates the number of soldiers placed.
That year, the Union Army furnished some 2,020 artificial legs and 1,441 artificial arms to its soldiers.
Times of strife can lead to medical innovation—when governments are willing | By Jeffrey Clemens/The Conversation | September 9, 2020 | Popular-ScienceTake, for instance, the financial hit that the United States carries each time one of its former soldiers in Iraq or Afghanistan commits violent crimes back on the home front.
Getting a haircut is supposed to be a risky act tantamount to being a soldier at war.
A soldier who loses a leg and a soldier who returns home safe to a new baby will generally, a year or two later, be roughly as happy as they were before those events.
A soldier in the service of ideals and aspirations that formed his core.
The story of the soldier returning home to a country he no longer recognizes is a very old one.
A Veteran’s View: NYC Cold War Between Cops and City Hall | Matt Gallagher | December 29, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTSabrine reports that the latest demands by ISIS militants are three prisoners for every captive soldier.
A Sunni-Shia Love Story Imperiled by al Qaeda | Ruth Michaelson | December 26, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTIn their midst stands a soldier with the Lebanese armed forces in a red beret, sporting an assault rifle and an unblinking stare.
A Sunni-Shia Love Story Imperiled by al Qaeda | Ruth Michaelson | December 26, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThe families had gathered that Sunday to remember Ali Bazzal, a soldier whom the Nusra Front declared they had executed on Dec. 6.
A Sunni-Shia Love Story Imperiled by al Qaeda | Ruth Michaelson | December 26, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTAfter relievedly giving the pistol to the nearest soldier, he stumbled quickly over to Brion and took his hand.
Sense of Obligation | Henry Maxwell Dempsey (AKA Harry Harrison)Captain Duffield wrote two messages, giving one to Harry, and the other to the soldier who was to accompany him.
The Courier of the Ozarks | Byron A. DunnTo Harry's surprise, the soldier detailed to go with him proved to be a boy, not much older than himself.
The Courier of the Ozarks | Byron A. DunnThe other was the spirited portrait of Baron von Friedericks, a happy combination of cavalier and soldier in its manly strength.
Women in the fine arts, from the Seventh Century B.C. to the Twentieth Century A.D. | Clara Erskine ClementHeavy firing continued all that afternoon, inflicting great loss on the rebels, whilst the Spaniards lost one soldier.
The Philippine Islands | John Foreman
British Dictionary definitions for soldier
/ (ˈsəʊldʒə) /
a person who serves or has served in an army
Also called: common soldier a noncommissioned member of an army as opposed to a commissioned officer
a person who works diligently for a cause
a low-ranking member of the Mafia or other organized crime ring
zoology
an individual in a colony of social insects, esp ants, that has powerful jaws adapted for defending the colony, crushing large food particles, etc
(as modifier): soldier ant
informal a strip of bread or toast that is dipped into a soft-boiled egg
to serve as a soldier
obsolete, slang to malinger or shirk
Origin of soldier
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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