SINCE 1828
standing army
nounDefinition of standing army
: a permanent army of paid soldiers
Examples of standing army in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The world's largest standing army, the PLA is actually the military wing of the ruling Communist Party with explicit instructions to follow the orders of the party, not the government. — Fox News, "China releases dramatic army propaganda video in wake of Hong Kong protests with 'anti-riot' drills," 1 Aug. 2019 In exercising the dispensing power, maintaining a standing army, dissolving Parliaments, and any of the other acts to which Parliament objected, James was simply ruling within the bounds and precedents of the crown. — Declan Leary, National Review, "Conservatives Should Not Celebrate Religious Tyranny and Coercion," 19 July 2019 What most people forget is there is not a standing army to turn your airplane around. — Loren Grush, The Verge, "SpaceX’s last Falcon 9 upgrade could finally make reusable rockets cost-effective," 9 May 2018 The nation, famously, has no standing army, is seen as a regional peacemaker, an eco-tourism pioneer and a staunch advocate for human rights. — Jim Wyss, miamiherald, "Are evangelical politics reshaping Central America into the new Bible Belt? | Miami Herald," 30 Mar. 2018 At the time of the Homestead strike, Pinkerton’s active and reserve agents outnumbered the standing army of the United States. — Sarah Jones, The New Republic, "The Pinkertons Still Never Sleep," 23 Mar. 2018 As a republican, Madison believed that a standing army or navy would become tools to facilitate the end of democratic government and its replacement by empire, as had happened in ancient Rome. — Noah Feldman, Anchorage Daily News, "James Madison would like a few words on trade wars," 7 Mar. 2018 Experts warn that the crisis is resulting in Turkey — a longtime American ally which boasts NATO's second-largest standing army — turning away from the West and toward Russia and Iran. — NBC News, "Russia, Iran open their arms as Turkey loses patience with U.S.," 18 Jan. 2018 The French Resistance had no standing army of its own, and the de facto leader for the movement, future president Charles de Gaulle, was stationed in London. — Erin Vanderhoof, Vanities, "The Saboteur and an Unbelievable Fight Against Nazis," 11 Dec. 2017These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'standing army.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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