conscription

noun con·scrip·tion \ kən-ˈskrip-shən \

Updated on: 27 Mar 2018

Definition of conscription

: compulsory enrollment of persons especially for military service : draft

During the war the armed forces were heavily dependent on conscription.

See conscription defined for English-language learners

Examples of conscription in a Sentence

young people who face conscription into the army

Recent Examples of conscription from the Web

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government recently rolled back previous legislation that had aimed to increase conscription — only to be struck down by the Supreme Court.

— Washington Post, "Tens of thousands at Jerusalem funeral of influential rabbi," 25 Feb. 2018
AdaSky comes from a growing cohort of startups out of Israel, incubated indirectly by the conscription of smart young minds into the world of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance.

— jonathan m. gitlin, Ars Technica, "The car of the future is taking shape—and it will know how we feel about it," 11 Feb. 2018
Loaded guns, whether military or for sport, cannot be carried on the streets here without a special permit which is rarely issued. Because of conscription, the Swiss are highly trained in weapons handling and storage.

— sara miller llana, The Christian Science Monitor, "Switzerland has lots of guns. But its gun culture takes different path from US.," 7 Mar. 2018
George and some family members escaped several times from forced labor details and attempts at forced conscription by both tyrannical regimes.

— courant.com, "George Petkaitis," 7 Mar. 2018
Netanyahu's government recently rolled back legislation aimed at increasing conscription, but this was struck down by the Supreme Court.

— paul goldman, NBC News, "Israel’s government could fall over ultra-Orthodox enlistment," 6 Mar. 2018
The couple helped save a number of locals in Saint-Jean-de-Luz from mandatory work in Germany by planting scores of trees on the grounds of the Chantaco golf course because forestry workers were spared from conscription.

— jonathan evans, Esquire, "Lacoste's Latest Show Was an Excellent Mix of Environmental Conservation and Sartorial Innovation," 28 Feb. 2018
Military spending is rising—by about 5% annually in real terms over the next three years—and conscription is being reintroduced next year.

— The Economist, "As Russia threatens, Sweden ponders joining NATO," 21 Sep. 2017
Widespread conscription meant that any military-age male German deported from England would soon return in a uniform to fight, with the reverse also being true.

— andrea pitzer, Smithsonian, "Concentration Camps Existed Long Before Auschwitz," 3 Nov. 2017

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

Did You Know?

With its scrip- root, conscription means basically writing someone's name on a list—a list that, unfortunately, a lot of people usually don't want to be on. Conscription has existed at least since ancient Egypt's Old Kingdom (27th century B.C.), though universal conscription has been rare throughout history. Forms of conscription were used by Prussia, Switzerland, Russia, and other European powers in the 17th and 18th centuries. In the U.S., conscription was first applied during the Civil War, by both the North and the South. In the North there were pockets of resistance, and the draft led to riots in several cities. The U.S. abandoned conscription at the end of the war and didn't revive it until World War I.