conscript

noun con·script \ ˈkän-ˌskript \

|Updated on: 12 Aug 2018

Examples: conscript in a Sentence

Definition of conscript

: a conscripted person (such as a military recruit)

See conscript defined for English-language learners

Examples of conscript in a Sentence

as the war continued, the body of enlisted soldiers was supplemented by an increasing number of conscripts

Recent Examples of conscript from the Web

Navy conscripts maneuver through barbed wires during a training session in the southeastern city of Changwon in January.

— eun-young jeong, WSJ, "Court Orders South Korea to Overhaul Hallowed Conscription Law," 28 June 2018
Mr Dhlakama had once before laid down his guns, ending a civil war marked by mass atrocities, child conscripts and 1m deaths between 1977 and 1992.

— The Economist, "Will Afonso Dhlakama’s death derail peace in Mozambique?," 10 May 2018
The movies have been conscripts in this continuing culture war and to look back at 1968 is to understand what has and hasn’t changed.

— New York Times, "Dystopia, Apocalypse, Culture War: 2018 or 1968?," 17 May 2018
Well, one recent study revealed the average height of male army conscripts in the Netherlands—the home of 6-foot-5 goalkeeping great Edwin van der Sar—had grown by 8.3 inches from 1858 to 1997.

— grant wahl, SI.com, "Masters of Modern Soccer: Christian Pulisic and the Craft of the Attacking Midfielder," 1 May 2018
Where cultural walls are now being erected to conscript and steal free speech in America.

— Fox News, "Laura Ingraham announces new segment 'Defending the First'," 10 Apr. 2018
Ownership rates have tumbled in this century, especially after the army cut the number of conscripts by four-fifths.

— The Economist, "Switzerland does not prove the NRA’s case," 22 Mar. 2018
Our jones for another Guardians of the Galaxy/’80s fix now makes a conscript of Spielberg, and for that matter Wes Anderson.

— gary thompson, Philly.com, "'Ready Player One': Why did Spielberg's new blockbuster bum me out so much?," 28 Mar. 2018
The play’s title is the name of a police conscript, Suliman Khater, who killed seven Israeli tourists in the Sinai Peninsula in 1985.

— Washington Post, "Egypt detains 6 over play seen as insult to security forces," 6 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'conscript.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of conscript

alteration of French conscrit, from Latin conscriptus, past participle of conscribere to enroll, enlist, from com- + scribere to write — more at scribe

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1799

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year

conscript Synonyms

Other Military Terms

bivouac, logistics, petard, salient, sally, supernumerary, tactical

conscript

adjective con·script \ ˈkän-ˌskript \

Definition of conscript

1 : enrolled into service by compulsion : drafted

2 : made up of conscripted persons

See conscript defined for kids

Recent Examples of conscript from the Web

The rank-and-file in the new conscript army were brutalised.

— The Economist, "Why modern Japan’s founding moment still divides a nation," 11 Jan. 2018
Thai police have accused ten soldiers of beating a 22-year-old army conscript to death in a military prison.

— bay area news group, The Mercury News, "Drafted! Photos of Thailand’s annual military draft lottery," 5 Apr. 2017
Syria’s large Sunni majority dominates the insurgency, and also the army conscript pool.

— anne barnard and hwaida saad, New York Times, "Syrian Officer Gave a View of War. ISIS Came, and Silence Followed.," 14 Feb. 2016
Under the conscript system, all eligible men are required to serve about two years.

— choe sang-hun, New York Times, "South Korea Military Is Accused of Cracking Down on Gay Soldiers," 26 Apr. 2017

First Known Use of conscript

1812

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

NEW! Time Traveler

Other Military Terms

bivouac, logistics, petard, salient, sally, supernumerary, tactical

conscript

verb con·script \ kən-ˈskript \

Definition of conscript

conscripted; conscripting; conscripts

transitive verb

: to enroll into service by compulsion : draft

was conscripted into the army

See conscript defined for English-language learners

Examples of conscript in a Sentence

The government is conscripting men for the army.
He was conscripted into the army.

Recent Examples of conscript from the Web

Of about 220 monks, the younger ones were conscripted into the German army, the elders were kicked out, and 63 monks stayed at the monastery to perform forced labor on the farm and on the upkeep of a new military hospital.

— emanuella grinberg, Smithsonian, "When a Bavarian Monastery Provided a Home to Jewish Refugees," 11 July 2018
Negroes are not only conscripted in double measure for combat, but they are told the billions needed for remaking their lives are necessary for foreign intervention.

— martin luther king jr., The Atlantic, "The Crisis in America’s Cities," 31 Mar. 2018
South Korea, one of the few nations that conscripts all able-bodied men into military service, will now allow conscientious objectors to substitute the required two years with community service.

— casey quackenbush, Time, "South Korean Men Will Soon be Able to Choose an Alternative to Mandatory Military Service," 29 June 2018
Many of the players had, at least on the Argentine side, friends or relatives who had been conscripted, maybe even lost their life.

— CNN, "How Diego Maradona redefined football in the space of less than five minutes," 11 June 2018
The Small Boys Unit Taylor’s army, the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL), was hardly alone in conscripting child combatants during the multi-faction tribal war that erupted after Liberian President Samuel Doe’s execution in 1990.

— jeremy roebuck, Philly.com, "Ex-child soldiers say Delco man turned them into killers," 19 June 2018
Jewish artists had been killed or exiled, but Communist artists, including several here, had been merely shut up and conscripted.

— cate mcquaid, BostonGlobe.com, "‘Inventur’ looks at German art in the wake of WWII," 15 Mar. 2018
And in National Institute of Family and Life Advocates v. Becerra, the Court held states cannot conscript private entities into serving as their mouthpiece.

— the editorial board, WSJ, "The Supreme Court’s Banner Year," 27 June 2018
As the Cambridge Analytica scandal has shown, even ordinary consumers have been unwittingly conscripted for this purpose—in this case with no pay at all.

— shuja haider, The New Republic, "Silicon Valley’s Rigged Game of Life," 3 May 2018