civilian

Pluralcivilians

1. 1
   nouncountable

   Someone who is not part of the army, navy, or other armed forces.

   Like the people in a town who stay home and work while the army is away fighting.

   Soldiers are trained to protect every civilian during the conflict.

   Many civilians fled the city before the fighting began.

   Similarnoncombatant

   Oppositesoldier, combatant

   Note
2. 2
   adjective

   Not connected to the army, police, or government jobs.

   He changed into civilian clothes as soon as his shift ended.

   The base lets civilian vehicles in only on weekends.

   Similarcivil, nonmilitary

   Oppositemilitary

   Note
3. 3
   nouncolloquialcountable

   Someone who is not part of a certain group or activity, an outsider.

   The skaters jokingly called anyone who couldn't ride a civilian.

   She felt like a civilian among the experienced gamers.

   Similaroutsider, layperson

   Oppositeinsider

   Note
4. 4
   nouncountable

   Someone who works for the government as part of the civil service.

   The government hired more civilians to run its busy offices.

   Every civilian in the records office filed reports each day.

   Similarofficial, bureaucrat, functionary

5. 5
   nouncountable

   A person who is an expert in civil law.

   A respected civilian helped settle the long dispute over the will.

   The judge asked a civilian to explain the older legal rules.

   Note
6. 6
   nouncountable

   A student who is learning civil law at a college or university.

   The young civilian spent his evenings reading legal texts.

   Every civilian at the college attended the lecture on Roman law.

   Note

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