volunteer
noun
\
Definition of volunteer
(Entry 1 of 3)
volunteer
verbDefinition of volunteer (Entry 2 of 3)
volunteer
adjectiveDefinition of volunteer (Entry 3 of 3)
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Synonyms & Antonyms for volunteer
Synonyms: Verb
bestow, contribute, donate, give, give away, present
Synonyms: Adjective
freewill, self-imposed, uncoerced, unforced, volitional, voluntary, willing
Antonyms: Adjective
coerced, compelled, forced, involuntary, nonvoluntary, unwilled, will-less
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Examples of volunteer in a Sentence
Noun
Volunteers are needed to help with the bake sale. The school was built by volunteers.Verb
Our son volunteered for military service. He would not volunteer any information about her whereabouts.Adjective
volunteer work at the hospital
Recent Examples on the Web: Noun
Here’s the Post: Johnson brought volunteers into the RV to take pictures with Trump. — Cady Drell, Marie Claire, "Another Woman Has Accused Donald Trump of Sexual Misconduct," 25 Feb. 2019 About 40 civilians, including a French woman, left the enclave Tuesday morning, apparently after paying smugglers, said a member of the Free Burma Rangers, a volunteer medical group. — Sarah El Deeb, The Seattle Times, "Pressure builds to get civilians out of last IS-held enclave," 20 Feb. 2019 State and local police, fire, and EMS workers are all eligible for the discount, be they current employees, retirees, or volunteers. — Chaim Gartenberg, The Verge, "Verizon offers emergency first responders discounts on unlimited plans," 6 Dec. 2018 The project trained citizen volunteers to digitally trace the buildings and roads that appear in satellite images, creating maps. — Mallory Locklear, Discover Magazine, "With Big Data and Predictive Analytics, Scientists Are Getting Smarter About Outbreaks," 8 Nov. 2018 The system doesn’t account for the very different nature of military service today, with volunteer soldiers facing multiple combat deployments in very stressful environments. — WSJ, "Blame Congress, not the VA, for Hero ‘Non-Veterans’," 21 Feb. 2019 The duchess had just watched a volunteer prepare food parcels to be handed out the same day to vulnerable women working on the streets. — Omid Scobie, Harper's BAZAAR, "Why Duchess Meghan Shared Touching Messages with Vulnerable Women During Bristol Visit," 1 Feb. 2019 The program offers free hot meals prepared by volunteer chefs, as well as ingredients and recipes for families to take home and prepare themselves. — Chloe Foussianes, Town & Country, "How to Help Federal Workers During the Government Shutdown," 25 Jan. 2019 On a typical day in 2011, Chicago Field Museum volunteer Karen Nordquist was undertaking her usual task: sifting ancient mud through a mesh screen that captures small fossils. — John Wenz, Popular Mechanics, "A New Shark Species Was Found in the Mud of Sue the T. Rex," 21 Jan. 2019Recent Examples on the Web: Verb
Of course, those who are able to support organizations are always encouraged to donate or volunteer and can do so 365 days a year. — Karina Hoshikawa, Allure, "M.A.C. and Benefit Cosmetics Are Teaming Up to Support Planned Parenthood," 12 Mar. 2019 Another option is to give themselves up for a cause, which could include volunteering. — Jennifer Aldrich, Country Living, "When is Lent? Here's Everything You Need to Know About the Christian Holiday," 13 Feb. 2019 But Billy Enriques, an Abilene school board member and Baptist who for years volunteered to teach adult education courses at a local Catholic church, would like to see more done to keep children from Mexico with their parents. — Gordon Dickson, star-telegram, "Abilene (a Trump hotbed) braces for its 'tent city' for immigrant children," 18 June 2018 My father volunteered in early 1941, before Pearl Harbor, and became an officer in the U.S. Navy. — Jennings Brown, Popular Mechanics, "What My Father Taught Me: Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger," 15 Jan. 2019 Beauregard has volunteered at the organization since its founding in 1990. — Rebecca Ellis, miamiherald, "Shake-A-Leg's fleet mysteriously vandalized in the dead of night," 5 July 2018 According to the affidavit, Kevin Brown volunteered to take a lie detector test. — CBS News, "Were the murders of California teens the work of a serial killer?," 9 June 2018 Our combat units can only be filled by Americans who are willing to step forward and volunteer their service. — WSJ, "A Fierce Battle Over Women in Combat Units," 22 Jan. 2019 Of all the exciting opportunities that have come from the Property Brothers episode, the ability to volunteer with this organization while bringing attention to it is definitely her favorite. — Maggie Burch, House Beautiful, ""How A 'Property Brothers' Episode Changed My Life"," 12 Jan. 2019Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective
Volunteer firefighters and EMTs took Marvin to a rendezvous point with the air ambulance. — Katy Moeller, idahostatesman, "The strange day a longtime Idaho bear hunter became the prey," 14 June 2017 Volunteer jobs range from helping out in the gift shop and art gallery to giving tours and running special events or keeping an inventory of historical items that are donated. — Linda Mcintosh, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Ice cream social planned at old adobe," 31 May 2017 Volunteer background can include: attorneys, law students, and paralegals. — Nathan Paige, cleveland.com, "BVU: Change the World Day volunteer opportunities, and more," 15 May 2017These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'volunteer.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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From the Editors at Merriam-Webster
The Good, The Bad, & The...
The Good, The Bad, & The Semantically Imprecise - 1/25/19
The words that defined the week of January 25th, 2019
Trending: United: 'Our Team Looked for...
Trending: United: 'Our Team Looked for Volunteers'
'Someone who does something without being forced to do it'
Dictionary Entries near volunteer
Statistics for volunteer
Last Updated
18 Mar 2019
Look-up Popularity
Time Traveler for volunteer
The first known use of volunteer was circa 1600
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More Definitions for volunteer
volunteer
noun
English Language Learners Definition of volunteer
(Entry 1 of 3)
volunteer
verbEnglish Language Learners Definition of volunteer (Entry 2 of 3)
volunteer
adjectiveEnglish Language Learners Definition of volunteer (Entry 3 of 3)
See the full definition for volunteer in the English Language Learners Dictionary
volunteer
noun
\
Kids Definition of volunteer
(Entry 1 of 3)
volunteer
adjectiveKids Definition of volunteer (Entry 2 of 3)
volunteer
verbKids Definition of volunteer (Entry 3 of 3)
volunteer
noun
\
Legal Definition of volunteer
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