soldier

noun sol·dier \ ˈsōl-jər \

Updated on: 17 Apr 2018

Definition of soldier

1 a : one engaged in military service and especially in the army

b : an enlisted man or woman

c : a skilled warrior

2 : a militant leader, follower, or worker

3 a : one of a caste of wingless sterile termites usually differing from workers in larger size and head and long jaws

b : one of a type of worker ants distinguished by exceptionally large head and jaws

4 play \ˈsō-jər, ˈsōl-\ : one who shirks work

—

soldierly

play \ˈsōl-jər-lē\ adjective or adverb

—

soldiership

play \ˈsōl-jər-ˌship\ noun

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Examples of soldier in a Sentence

Many soldiers were wounded in combat.
one of the goals of war is to keep as many soldiers as possible from being killed

Recent Examples of soldier from the Web

On March 27th a Turkish court denied bail to two Greek soldiers arrested weeks earlier after crossing the border with Turkey.

— The Economist, "Turkey and Greece ratchet up tension in the Mediterranean," 12 Apr. 2018
In response, Hezbollah fired anti-tank missiles at Israeli vehicles operating near the Lebanese border, killing two Israeli soldiers.

— oren liebermann, CNN, "Iran vows to retaliate against Israel for Syria strike," 11 Apr. 2018
The Army on Sunday identified the two soldiers who were killed after their helicopter crashed during a night-time training exercise at Fort Campbell in Kentucky.

— Fox News, "Army identifies 2 killed in helicopter crash in Kentucky," 8 Apr. 2018
The Army has identified two soldiers who were killed Friday night in an AH-64E Apache helicopter crash near Fort Campbell.

— andrew wolfson, The Courier-Journal, "Army has identified 2 soldiers killed during a training mission Friday at Fort Campbell," 8 Apr. 2018
Two soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division's 101st Combat Aviation Brigade were killed yesterday when their helicopter crashed during training at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, base officials said.

— leada gore, AL.com, "2 Army airmen killed in Kentucky helicopter crash," 7 Apr. 2018
Authorities say two soldiers were killed Friday in an Apache helicopter crash at Fort Campbell, which is located in Kentucky.

— CBS News, "2 soldiers killed in helicopter crash at Fort Campbell," 7 Apr. 2018
My favourite application of bronze has always been the cuirass (breastplate), shield, spear, sword and greaves of the Spartan soldiers.

— wei koh, A-LIST, "How the Watch Industry Plundered the Periodic Table," 3 Apr. 2018
Frank Gaylord was a Vermont sculptor who designed the statues of soldiers for the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington.

— kansascity, "Final Chapters for April 1, 2018: Rusty Staub, Stéphane Audran, Anita Shreve | The Kansas City Star," 31 Mar. 2018

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

Origin and Etymology of soldier

Middle English soudeour, from Anglo-French soudeer, soudeour mercenary, from soudee shilling's worth, wage, from sou, soud shilling, from Late Latin solidus solidus

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 14th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1a

See Words from the same year