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

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

Carmen, a nurse, is not one of Price’s more convincing fictional characters; like her Wild Geese rival for Billy’s affections, Yasmeen Assaf-Doyle, she is a hive of emotions buzzing about an empty core.

From The New Yorker • Feb. 9, 2015

Director Andrew V McLaglen, who was best known for Westerns and action films including The Wild Geese and McLintock!, has died aged 94.

From BBC • Sep. 3, 2014

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