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soldier definition

sol·dier (sōl′jər)

noun

  1. a person serving in an army; member of an army
    1. an enlisted person, as distinguished from one holding a warrant or commission
    2. any low-ranking member of a Mafia family
  3. one who has much military experience or military skill
  4. a person who works zealously for a specified cause
  5. an ant or termite of a caste having an enlarged head and jaws and serving as fighters in defense of the colony

Etymology: ME soldiour < OFr soldier < solde, coin, pay < LL solidus: see solidus

intransitive verb

  1. to serve as a soldier
  2. to proceed stubbornly or doggedly: usually with on
  3. to shirk one's duty, as by making a pretense of working, feigning illness, etc.

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

soldier Synonyms

soldier

n.

warrior, fighter, fighting man, private, officer, enlisted man, enlisted woman, volunteer, conscript, commando, mercenary, musketeer, cadet, rank and file, ranks, selectee, commissioned officer, noncommissioned officer, warrant officer, recruit, veteran, Green Beret, Tommy (British), warmonger, militant, G.I.*, Joe*, doughfoot*, dogface*, grunt*. *

Types of soldiers include: marine, infantryman, foot soldier, rifleman, sharpshooter, marksman, sniper, guerrilla, scout, skirmisher, sniper-scout, guardsman, artilleryman, gunner, cannoneer, engineer, cavalryman, trooper, knight, dragon, airman, bomber pilot, fighter pilot, torpedo operator, air gunner, radio operator, signalman, paratrooper, commando, air-borne trooper, tanker, Seabee, Green Beret, Special Forces, Ranger, draftee, selectee, ski trooper, antiaircraft gunner, pioneer, machine-gunner, sepoy, Zouave, grenadier.


Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

soldier Usage Examples

Preposition: on

  • horseback: Soldiers on horseback provide mobility and speed to an army commander.

Converse of subject

  • rape: Come to an Amnesty event Act now for Bitondo Nyumba who was beaten and raped by government soldiers from her own country.

Adjective modifier

  • wounded: London was overcrowded with wounded soldiers begging in the streets.

Converse of object

  • kill: The militants killed five UN soldiers in the attack.

Modifies a noun

  • heavyweapons: When g_heavyweaponrestriction is at 0, for some unfathomable reason this means zero restriction for artillery, and zero allowed soldier heavyweapons.

Preposition: in

  • trench: Letters could be written in Scots from soldiers in the trenches to loved ones back home.

Preposition: of

  • legion: A soldier of the Theban Legion martyred near Ventimiglia in Italy.

Preposition: with

  • bayonet: Just a week before the opening ceremony soldiers with fixed bayonets charged a crowd of over 15,000.

Noun used with modifier

  • infantry: They train as infantry soldiers at weekends and on drill nights.
soldier usage examples (more)

The word usage examples above have been gathered from various sources to reflect current and historical usage. They do not represent the opinions of YourDictionary.com.

soldier quotes

   So in the simple blessing of a rainbow, In the bevelled edge of a sunlit mirror, I have seen visible, Death's artifact Like a soldier's ribbon on a tunic tacked.

-Abse, Dannie

It is fitting that we should have buried the unknown Prime Minister by the side of the Unknown Soldier.

-Asquith

Anyone who has ever looked into the glazed eyes of a soldier dying on the battlefield will think hard before starting a war.

-of)

soldier quotes (more)

Webster's New World Dictionary of Quotations Copyright © 2005 by Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Published by Wiley, Hoboken, NJ. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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MLA Style

"soldier." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009

  • Your Dictionary. 5 July 2009
  • <www.yourdictionary.com/soldier>

APA Style

soldier. (2009). In Webster's New World College Dictionary

  • Retrieved July 5th, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/soldier

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