soldier
English · Thesaurus
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soldier¹
- /ˈsəʊld͡ʒə/ UK
- /ˈsɒld͡ʒə/ UK
- /ˈsoʊld͡ʒɚ/ US
Rhymes with -əʊldʒə(ɹ), -ɒldʒə(ɹ)
Where it comes from
Inherited from Middle English soudeour, from Old French soudier or soudeour (“mercenary”), from Medieval Latin soldarius (“soldier (one having pay)”), from Late Latin solidus, a type of coin. Displaced Old English cempa (whence obsolete kemp).
(red herring): An allusion to soldiers' red uniforms; red herring is, reciprocally, a slang term for "soldier".
noun soldiers · soldior · soldiour · souldier · souldior · souldiour
- A member of a ground-based army, of any rank, but especially an enlisted member. My friends and I saw a soldier questioning a man holding a bag with a gun in his pocket.
- Any member of a military, regardless of specialty.
- An enlisted member of a military service, as distinguished from a commissioned officer. She saw a soldier while collecting her baggage at the airport.
- A guardsman.
- A member of the Salvation Army.
- A low-ranking gangster or member of a gang, especially the mafia, who engages in physical conflict.
- A piece of buttered bread (or toast), cut into a long thin strip for dipping into a soft-boiled egg. Beside his egg was a plate of buttered toast, already cut up into soldiers.
- A term of approbation for a young boy.
- Someone who fights or toils well. [L]et 'em know how important it is to have Runyon Avenue soldiers up in our corners; their loyalty to us is worth more than any award is.
- A red or cuckoo gurnard (Chelidonichthys cuculus).
- One of the asexual polymorphic forms of termites, in which the head and jaws are very large and strong. The soldiers serve to defend the nest.
- A red herring (cured kipper with flesh turned red).
- A xiangqi piece that moves and captures by advancing one point. Once it has crossed the river, it may also move and capture one point horizontally.
- A brick, for example in a course of brickwork, that is laid vertically on its shortest end (smallest face), so that its tallest and slimmest face faces the outside of the wall.
Similar: digger, dogface, doughboy, GI, ground pounder, grunt, jarhead, jawan, lobster, Old Bill, old sweat, regular, serviceman, serviceperson, servicewoman, soldier, squaddie, sweat, tirailleur, Tommy, Tommy Atkins, trooper, warrior
verb soldiers · soldiering · soldiered · soldior · soldiour
- To continue steadfast; to keep striving.
- To serve as a soldier.
-
To intentionally restrict labor productivity; to work at the slowest rate that goes unpunished.
Similar: dog it, fuck the dog, goldbrick
- To take a ride on (another person's horse) without permission. It was the first time I had ever “soldiered” a horse. Soldiering means using a horse without the owner's leave or knowledge. Two of our lost horses we never found. Probably some one was soldiering them!
Soldier²
proper noun
- A tiny city in Monona County, Iowa.
- A tiny city in Jackson County, Kansas.
- An unincorporated community and coal town in Carter County, Kentucky.
- An unincorporated community in Jefferson County, Pennsylvania.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: shirking, goldbricking, goofing off, slacking, serviceman, troops, military, trooper, army, pte, solider, sergeant, policeman, conscript, commander, troop
noun
Similar: digger, dogface, doughboy, GI, ground pounder, grunt, jarhead, jawan, lobster, Old Bill, old sweat, regular, serviceman, serviceperson, servicewoman, soldier, squaddie, sweat, tirailleur, Tommy, Tommy Atkins, trooper, warrior
Translations
Every language
noun a guardsman
| 한국어 | 경비원 gyeongbiwon |
|---|---|
| 日本語 | 警備員 keibiin |
| Italiano | soldato |
| Ελληνικά | εθνοφρουρός ethnofrourós, φρουρός frourós, φύλακας fýlakas |
| Română | gardă, pază |
| Русский | часово́й časovój, карау́льный karaúlʹnyj, охра́нник oxránnik, страж straž |
noun member of an army
| Español | soldado, militar, milico, áscari, cuilío |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 군인 gunin, 병사 byeongsa |
| 日本語 | 兵士 heishi, 軍人 gunjin, 兵隊 heitai |
| 中文 | 士兵 shìbīng, 兵 bīng, 軍人 /军人 jūnrén, 戰士 /战士 zhànshì |
| हिन्दी | सैनिक sainik, सिपाही sipāhī, फ़ौजी faujī |
| Kiswahili | askari |
| Português | soldado |
| Français | soldat |
| Deutsch | Soldat, Soldatin |
| Italiano | soldato |
| Ελληνικά | στρατιώτης stratiótis |
| Română | soldat, militar, ostaș |
| Русский | солда́т soldát, во́ин vóin, военнослу́жащий vojennoslúžaščij, вое́нный vojénnyj, воя́ка vojáka, солдафо́н soldafón |
| Tiếng Việt | người lính, bộ đội, binh sĩ, binh lính, quân lính, lính |
| العربية | جُنْدِيّ jundiyy, عَسْكَرِيّ ʕaskariyy |
| עברית | חַיָּל, חייל khayál |
noun UK: a piece of buttered bread or toast
| Français | mouillette |
|---|
noun a term of affection for a young boy
| Español | campión (disused), campeón |
|---|
noun someone who fights or toils well
| Deutsch | Kämpfer |
|---|
Talk about this word "soldier." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/soldier. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. soldier. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/soldier "soldier." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/soldier.Cite this
@misc{soldier_2026,
title = {soldier},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/soldier},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
