volunteer

American  

[vol-uhn-teer] / ˌvɒl ənˈtɪər /

noun

volunteers plural

1. a person who voluntarily offers to perform a service or other undertaking.

2. a person who performs a service willingly and without pay.

3. Military. a person who enters the service voluntarily rather than through conscription or draft, especially for special or temporary service rather than as a member of the regular or permanent army.

4. Law.

   1. a person whose actions are not founded on any legal obligation so to act.

   2. a person who steps into a matter that does not concern them, such as a person who pays the debt of another where they are neither legally nor morally bound to do so and has no interest to protect in making the payment.

5. Agriculture. Also volunteer plant a plant that springs up spontaneously, without being seeded, planted, or cultivated by a person.

   We didn't plant any watermelons this year, but look at all the volunteers from last year's crop.

6. Volunteer. a native or inhabitant of Tennessee (used as a nickname).

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adjective

1. of, relating to, or being a person who voluntarily offers to do something.

   a volunteer fireman.

2. Agriculture. growing without being seeded, planted, or cultivated by a person; springing up spontaneously.

   volunteer tomatoes.

verb (used without object)

volunteers, present (3rd person singular) volunteered, past participle, past volunteering present participle

1. to offer oneself for some service or undertaking.

2. to enter service or enlist voluntarily.

verb (used with object)

volunteers, present (3rd person singular) volunteered, past participle, past volunteering present participle

1. to offer (oneself or one's services) for some undertaking or purpose.

2. to give, bestow, or perform voluntarily.

   to volunteer a song.

3. to say, tell, or communicate voluntarily.

   to volunteer an explanation.

4. to promise the services of (someone) without having asked if it is something they actually can or want to do.

   He volunteered me to sand and paint the bottom of the boat, and I don’t have the slightest interest in sanding, painting, or boating.

volunteer British  

/ ˌvɒlənˈtɪə /

noun

1. 1. a person who performs or offers to perform voluntary service

   2. ( as modifier )

      a volunteer system

      volunteer advice

2. a person who freely undertakes military service, esp temporary or special service

3. law

   1. a person who does some act or enters into a transaction without being under any legal obligation to do so and without being promised any remuneration for his services

   2. property law a person to whom property is transferred without his giving any valuable consideration in return, as a legatee under a will

4. 1. a plant that grows from seed that has not been deliberately sown

   2. ( as modifier )

      a volunteer plant

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verb

1. to offer (oneself or one's services) for an undertaking by choice and without request or obligation

2. (tr) to perform, give, or communicate voluntarily

   to volunteer help

   to volunteer a speech

3. (intr) to enlist voluntarily for military service

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• prevolunteer
  noun
• unvolunteering
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• volunteers
  plural

Participles

• volunteering
  present
• volunteered
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• volunteer
  simple
• volunteers
  simple
• have volunteered
  perfect
• has volunteered
  perfect
• am volunteering
  progressive
• are volunteering
  progressive
• is volunteering
  progressive
• have been volunteering
  perfect progressive
• has been volunteering
  perfect progressive

Past

• volunteered
  simple
• had volunteered
  perfect
• was volunteering
  progressive
• were volunteering
  progressive
• had been volunteering
  perfect progressive

Future

• will volunteer
  simple
• will have volunteered
  perfect
• will be volunteering
  progressive
• will have been volunteering
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of volunteer

First recorded in 1590–1600; from French volontaire, from Latin voluntārius voluntary, with -eer for French -aire

Explanation

To volunteer means to freely offer up your time and service to help. So a volunteer might offer to water a neighbor's plants while he's on vacation or sign up to serve dinner at a local homeless shelter. When it came into usage circa 1600, the noun volunteer referred to a person who offered himself up for military service. It wasn't until a few decades later that the word was first used in a non-military sense. And a little over a hundred years after that, volunteer expanded from functioning as just a noun to also playing the role of verb. A volunteer is someone who volunteers: willingly performs a task or offers a service.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

volunteer volunteers volunteered volunteering

"You run to save what you can and then you turn to defend" against the fire, said Karim Benali, 39, a volunteer who spoke to AFP on a road near Navaluenga, west of Madrid.

From Barron's ● Jul. 27, 2026

Holliday spends her volunteer time socializing over coffee and the newspaper, helping residents run errands, leading fitness classes on Saturday mornings and organizing game nights.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 24, 2026

Homeowners spend thousands to ward off the pantry-raiding, toothpaste-sniffing beasts, exposing a rift among volunteer groups.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026

Upon initial evaluation, she was weak and tired, with disheveled feathers and mud-caked feet, according to Kristine Koh, volunteer rehab manager for the San Dimas Raptor Rescue, which is part of the L.A.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026

Frigga cried out to the gods for a volunteer to go down to Hela and try to ransom Balder.

From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton

Supt Judy Hill added that the "ongoing multi agency response remains a high priority, with significant partnership resources and volunteers working tirelessly and in challenging circumstances, to support our efforts to extinguish the fires".

From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026

These long-term research volunteers have contributed years of their time to help scientists define successful cognitive aging and identify new pathways that may promote resilience.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 25, 2026

"The Ukrainian army today relies to a large extent on volunteers," she said, arguing products therefore have to be "simple, clear and easily reproduced".

From Barron's ● Jul. 24, 2026

Jackson, who campaigned heavily with Platner before the scandals, had the support of roughly 75 percent of the volunteers who rallied behind the now-disgraced former Senate candidate.

From Slate ● Jul. 24, 2026

Sometimes new volunteers arrived at Engels and joined them.

From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein

“Having this opportunity to have tickets for these kids and families, it’s going to be beyond their wildest dreams,” said Washington, who volunteered in the opening ceremony at the 1984 L.A.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026

While at Pinellas County Jail, he testified against or volunteered information on more than two dozen defendants in exchange for lenience from prosecutors.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026

Alexander Lunin, 39, volunteered to fight in Ukraine following the start of Moscow's full-scale offensive in 2022.

From Barron's ● Jun. 29, 2026

“I’ve never volunteered for anything in my life,” he started, an effort to acknowledge Schlossberg’s many volunteers, before trailing off to talk about his injured ear.

From Slate ● Jun. 18, 2026

“Some people would argue this wasn’t worth a five-hour walk,” he volunteered.

From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French

Nine months ago, he started volunteering at Fordhall Farm in Market Drayton, which his family said brought him out of a difficult place.

From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026

Joginder Singh, a 45-year-old businessman volunteering at the camp, said supporters from Mumbai, Chennai and Punjab had been placing delivery orders directly to the protest site.

From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026

Noskova, who grew up in a small village and spent part of her offseason this winter volunteering at a school in Tanzania, is about as far from tennis privilege as it gets.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026

Bonda was volunteering at art classes set up by French expat Bernard Brunon and his American expat wife Nancy Ganucheau.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 27, 2026

Mrs. Nielsen is in and out; much of her time these days is taken up with bridge club and volunteering at the church.

From "Orphan Train" by Christina Baker Kline

Related Words

• come forward
• enlist
• sign up
• step forward
• suggest