Wild Geese

British  

noun

1. the Irish expatriates who served as professional soldiers with the Catholic powers of Europe, esp France, from the late 17th to the early 20th centuries

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Example Sentences

Sir Roger Moore, with whom Finlay starred in the 1978 film The Wild Geese - alongside Richard Burton and Richard Harris - called him "a great co-star" as he paid tribute on Twitter.

From BBC • Jan. 31, 2016

After they caught the bad guys, instead of giving them a beating, as some cops did, the Wild Geese treated them “like members of a defeated softball team.”

From Washington Post • Feb. 15, 2015

Promoted to detectives, the Wild Geese begin by degrees to lose their idealism, and by middle age they have devolved into a straggling band of vengeance seekers.

From The New Yorker • Feb. 9, 2015

There were roles in the TV series Smiley's People and war dramas such as Who Dares Wins and Wild Geese II, generally as a baddie.

From The Guardian • Nov. 24, 2010

There was a secret understanding among the then suppressed "Wild Geese" that none of their number should suffer the pangs of hunger while provisions could be obtained from the table.

From The Story of Paul Boyton Voyages on All the Great Rivers of the World by Boyton, Paul