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View synonyms for soldier

soldier

[ sohl-jer ]

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. Compare rowlock ( def 2 ).
  8. Informal. a person who avoids work or pretends to work; loafer; malingerer.


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. to persist steadfastly in one's work; persevere:

    to soldier on until the work is done.

soldier

/ ˈsəʊldʒə /

noun

    1. a person who serves or has served in an army
    2. Also calledcommon soldier a noncommissioned member of an army as opposed to a commissioned officer
  1. a person who works diligently for a cause
  2. a low-ranking member of the Mafia or other organized crime ring
  3. 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

  4. informal.
    a strip of bread or toast that is dipped into a soft-boiled egg


verb

  1. to serve as a soldier
  2. obsolete.
    to malinger or shirk

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Other Words From

  • soldier·ship noun
  • non·soldier noun

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Word History and Origins

Origin of soldier1

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English souldiour, from Old French soudier, so(i)dier, equivalent to soulde “pay” (from Latin solidus; sol 2 ) + -ier -ier 2

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Word History and Origins

Origin of soldier1

C13: from Old French soudier, from soude (army) pay, from Late Latin solidus a gold coin, from Latin: firm

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Example Sentences

The shading of a cell indicates the number of soldiers placed.

That year, the Union Army furnished some 2,020 artificial legs and 1,441 artificial arms to its soldiers.

Take, for instance, the financial hit that the United States carries each time one of its former soldiers in Iraq or Afghanistan commits violent crimes back on the home front.

From Ozy

Getting a haircut is supposed to be a risky act tantamount to being a soldier at war.

A soldier who loses a leg and a soldier who returns home safe to a new baby will generally, a year or two later, be roughly as happy as they were before those events.

From Vox

A soldier in the service of ideals and aspirations that formed his core.

The story of the soldier returning home to a country he no longer recognizes is a very old one.

Sabrine reports that the latest demands by ISIS militants are three prisoners for every captive soldier.

In their midst stands a soldier with the Lebanese armed forces in a red beret, sporting an assault rifle and an unblinking stare.

The families had gathered that Sunday to remember Ali Bazzal, a soldier whom the Nusra Front declared they had executed on Dec. 6.

After relievedly giving the pistol to the nearest soldier, he stumbled quickly over to Brion and took his hand.

Captain Duffield wrote two messages, giving one to Harry, and the other to the soldier who was to accompany him.

To Harry's surprise, the soldier detailed to go with him proved to be a boy, not much older than himself.

The other was the spirited portrait of Baron von Friedericks, a happy combination of cavalier and soldier in its manly strength.

Heavy firing continued all that afternoon, inflicting great loss on the rebels, whilst the Spaniards lost one soldier.

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gallimaufry

[gal-uh-maw-free ]

Meaning and examples

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