deserter

noun

de·​sert·​er di-ˈzər-tər How to pronounce deserter (audio)
plural deserters
: a person who deserts
… the deserter of his father in his last days, betrayer of his brother in his captivity …Amy Kelly
especially : a member of a military force who abandons service without leave
a wartime deserter
But now that Anderson has been AWOL for more than 30 days, he is known in the U.S. military as a deserter, facing the possibility of years in jail. Daniel Eisenberg
At a prison camp for German army deserters, Herold ordered the execution of more than 100 soldiers. Michael Phillips

Examples of deserter in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web No longer a savior of filmmakers, Annapurna became a deserter of them. Rebecca Keegan, The Hollywood Reporter, 6 Mar. 2024 Starters Pablo Lopez and Joe Ryan lead a pitching staff that will miss free agent deserter Sonny Gray but a bullpen led by fireballer Jhoan Duran is in great shape. Dan Schlossberg, Forbes, 15 Feb. 2024 While that accounts for a small percentage of the army’s total personnel, estimated at 280,000 to 350,000 people, the number of deserters has doubled since the start of the year. Sui-Lee Wee, New York Times, 19 Dec. 2023 Based on a live TV drama written expressly for Poitier by Robert Alan Aurthur, Edge of the City follows Cassavetes as a troubled Army deserter who finds trust in others, maturity in himself and reintegration into society after Poitier, playing a stevedore foreman, befriends him. Mike Barnes, The Hollywood Reporter, 13 Dec. 2023 Medvedev fled to Norway in January to request asylum after reportedly witnessing the mercenary group’s fighters capturing and executing deserters. Kim Bellware, Washington Post, 23 Sep. 2023 When Oregon State hosts deserters UCLA (Oct. 14) and Washington (Nov. 18), how many crowds will be able to match the energy in Corvallis, Oregon? Jimmy Watkins, cleveland, 31 Aug. 2023 And a story has been handed down about a Confederate deserter who hid beneath the cliffs near Steele and survived with help from a local widow who was kind enough to bring him food. John Archibald | Jarchibald@al.com, al, 13 Aug. 2023 The series follows a team of Korean military police who are tasked with catching deserters. Manori Ravindran, Variety, 7 July 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'deserter.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

desert entry 3 + -er entry 2, after Latin dēsertor and French déserteur

First Known Use

1631, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of deserter was in 1631

Dictionary Entries Near deserter

Cite this Entry

“Deserter.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/deserter. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

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