volunteer

[ vol-uh n-teer ]

/ ˌvɒl ənˈtɪər /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR volunteer ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a person who voluntarily offers himself or herself for a service or undertaking.

a person who performs a service willingly and without pay.

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.

Law.

a person whose actions are not founded on any legal obligation so to act.
a person who intrudes into a matter that does not concern him or her, as a person who pays the debt of another where he or she is neither legally nor morally bound to do so and has no interest to protect in making the payment.

Agriculture. a volunteer plant.

(initial capital letter) a native or inhabitant of Tennessee (used as a nickname).

adjective

of, relating to, or being a volunteer or volunteers: a volunteer fireman.

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

verb (used without object)

to offer oneself for some service or undertaking.

to enter service or enlist as a volunteer.

verb (used with object)

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

to give, bestow, or perform voluntarily: to volunteer a song.

to say, tell, or communicate voluntarily: to volunteer an explanation.

RELATED WORDS

tendered, offered, proffered

Nearby words

voluntary association, voluntary muscle, voluntary retailer, voluntary sector, voluntaryism, volunteer, volunteer army, volunteer bureau, volunteer state, volunteerism, volunteers in service to america

Origin of volunteer

1590–1600; < French volontaire < Latin voluntārius voluntary, with -eer for French -aire

Related formspre·vol·un·teer, noun, verbun·vol·un·teer·ing, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for volunteered

His regular partner was late that day, and Police Officer Wenjian Liu volunteered to fill in.
In The Shadow of Murdered Cops|Michael Daly|December 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Finally, Ciolino volunteered a lawyer, Jack Rimland, to represent Simon in court.
Wrongly Imprisoned for 15 Years Thanks to an Innocence Project|Jacob Siegel|November 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Jackson volunteered this information to detectives, just before the trial, in the mistaken belief that it would help Wise.
The Myth of the Central Park Five|Edward Conlon|October 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The sisters, who volunteered for relief work in addition to ministerial service through their order, were extraordinary women.
Caught: Female Assassin Who Allegedly Murdered Five American Nuns|Barbie Latza Nadeau|September 22, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Beck volunteered for extra deployments and ran straight toward fire without a thought.
The Woman Stuck in a Navy SEAL's Body|Nina Strochlic|September 4, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Ibrahim the Egyptian, a Roman Catholic, as it seemed, had volunteered to act as dragoman.
When It Was Dark|Guy Thorne
"There are heaps of new girls," volunteered another who stood by.
The Luckiest Girl in the School|Angela Brazil
Nearly thirty of them volunteered their services to execute the order.
Darius the Great|Jacob Abbott
"She's a peach, too," he volunteered with the genial impudence that characterized him.
The Pirate of Panama|William MacLeod Raine
He had volunteered as one of the party to try the Hunley after she had suffocated her second crew.
The Submarine in War and Peace|Simon Lake

British Dictionary definitions for volunteered

volunteer

/ (ˌvɒlənˈtɪə) /

noun

a person who performs or offers to perform voluntary service
(as modifier)a volunteer system; volunteer advice

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

law

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

a plant that grows from seed that has not been deliberately sown
(as modifier)a volunteer plant

verb

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

(tr) to perform, give, or communicate voluntarilyto volunteer help; to volunteer a speech

(intr) to enlist voluntarily for military service

Word Origin for volunteer

C17: from French volontaire, from Latin voluntārius willing; see voluntary

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

Word Origin and History for volunteered

volunteer

c.1600, "one who offers himself for military service," from Middle French voluntaire, noun use of adj. meaning "voluntary," from Latin voluntarius "voluntary, of one's free will" (see voluntary). Non-military sense is first recorded 1630s. The verb is first recorded 1755, from the noun. Tennessee has been the Volunteer State since the Mexican War, when a call for 2,800 volunteers brought out 30,000 men.

volunteer

noun

adjective

verb (used without object)

verb (used with object)

RELATED CONTENT

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of volunteer

Examples from the Web for volunteered

British Dictionary definitions for volunteered

volunteer

noun

verb

Word Origin for volunteer

Word Origin and History for volunteered

volunteer