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.

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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

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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; see sol ²) + -ier -ier ²

Explanation

In a war, soldiers are the people who do the fighting, on the ground, in planes, or from boats. Soldier is also a verb that means to serve in the military, or to continue on through difficult times. What is an army without soldiers? It’s a bunch of guns on the ground. A soldier is the man or woman who fights for their government and carries the weapons, risking their life in the process. The word comes from the Latin solidus, which is the name of the gold coin used to pay soldiers who fought in the Roman army. To “soldier on” means to not give up even when life is tough, like soldiering on through difficult vocabulary.

Example Sentences

The court heard Pochynok's father died three weeks ago and that he had been a soldier fighting in Ukraine.

From BBC • May 15, 2026

Alex Campbell, a 30-year-old operator in this system and professional drone-racing competitor, describes himself as more of a nerd than a soldier.

From Barron's • May 15, 2026

He is typical of many in the group - a former soldier who returned, wounded, from the Ukraine front line, in search of a role and purpose in Russian society.

From BBC • May 15, 2026

Gannon Ken Van Dyke, a special-forces soldier at Fort Bragg, N.C., for using his role in the planning of the January raid that captured Nicolás Maduro to win some $410,000 on Polymarket.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 5, 2026

Good soldier, I thought, taking advantage of the element of surprise.

From "Liar, Liar" by Gary Paulsen

Related Words

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