soldier

noun sol·dier \ ˈsōl-jər \

Updated on: 15 May 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

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soldierly

play \ˈsōl-jər-lē\ adjective or adverb

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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

The writings and happenings of real Civil War soldiers inspired much of her work.

— michael walsh, Courant Community, "Avon Author Releases Book Of Civil War Poems," 9 May 2018
Already, military officials from the US Africa Command have begun briefing Congress and family members of those soldiers on the lengthy report, which is expected to outline some of the changes to operations.

— thomas gibbons-neff and eric schmitt, BostonGlobe.com, "US commandos in Africa told to avoid direct combat," 9 May 2018
As the militia of ethnic Tuareg soldiers discuss how to return the vehicle to U.S. authorities, the Islamic State is pushing deeper into this poor, West African country and raising fears of more violence.

— soumaila t. diarra, USA TODAY, "Mali ripe territory for ISIS, local militias — and they often clash," 7 May 2018
Angels: Gilead's high-ranking army of soldiers that fight in border wars and guard important places like the Rachel and Leah Center.

— refinery29.com, "The Handmaid's Tale Glossary You Need To Survive Gilead," 2 May 2018
Annihilation This attempt at a thinking person’s action movie devolves into a motiveless slog, in which a group of female soldiers go on a suicide mission, for little or no reason, and end up seeing some very gory, disgusting things.

— chronicle staff report, San Francisco Chronicle, "Capsule movie reviews for week of April 29," 26 Apr. 2018
Similar changes were found earlier among children of Soviet soldiers who absorbed radiation during nuclear tests.

— serhii plokhy, Time, "The True Cost of the Chernobyl Disaster Has Been Greater Than It Seems," 26 Apr. 2018
Two years later the country joined NATO, and thousands of American soldiers descended on Turkish soil over the next decade.

— suzy hansen, The New Republic, "“What Difference Is Trump for Us?”," 24 Apr. 2018
The Pentagon has focused on advancements in genital transplants to treat the scores of soldiers injured by IEDs in Iraq and Afghanistan.

— leada gore lgore@al.com, AL.com, "Johns Hopkins performs world's first penis, scrotum transplant on wounded soldier," 23 Apr. 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