# soldier

Pronunciation: US say "SOHL-jur" /ˈsoʊld͡ʒɚ/; UK say "SOHL-juh" /ˈsəʊld͡ʒə/

## Noun

1. A person who serves in an army or, more loosely, in any of the armed forces, especially one below the rank of officer.
   - Simple: A person who serves in an army, especially one who is not an officer.
   - _A soldier must follow the orders of a superior officer._
   - _The general praised the soldiers for their endurance during the long march._
3. A brave, tough person who works hard and keeps going through difficulty; also said approvingly to a young boy.
   - Simple: A brave, strong person who keeps going when things are hard. It is also said kindly to a young boy.
   - _My grandmother was a soldier, raising six children on almost nothing._
   - _Grandma never complained once during her months of treatment, and the nurses all called her a real soldier._
4. A low-ranking member of a gang, especially the mafia, who carries out violence and physical conflict.
   - Simple: A low-level gang member who does the fighting and dirty work.
   - _Every soldier in the family answered directly to the underboss._
   - _The mob boss kept his own hands clean while his soldiers collected debts and roughed up anyone who refused to pay._
6. A member of the defending caste in a termite colony or in some ant species, usually with an enlarged head and powerful jaws.
   - Simple: In termites and some ants, an insect that guards the nest, often with a big head and strong jaws.
   - _When ants attack, a soldier plugs the tunnel with its armored head._
   - _The colony's soldiers cannot feed themselves and rely on the workers._
7. A long thin strip of buttered bread or toast, made for dipping into a soft-boiled egg. *(Australia, British, Ireland, New Zealand)*
   - Simple: A thin strip of buttered toast for dipping into a soft-boiled egg.
   - _He cut the toast into soldiers for his daughter's breakfast._
   - _A warm soldier is perfect for scooping up soft yolk._
8. A member of the Salvation Army, the Christian church that gives its people military ranks and titles.
   - Simple: A member of the Salvation Army, a Christian group that is organized like an army.
   - _As a soldier in the Salvation Army, he gave up his evenings to run the food bank._
   - _All through December, Salvation Army soldiers rang bells beside the red kettles outside the grocery store._

## Verb

2. To keep pushing forward with determination, despite hardship or discouragement.
   - Simple: To keep going and not give up, even when things are hard.
   - _Despite his exhaustion, he chose to soldier on toward the summit._
   - _The small business soldiered on through years of heavy losses._
5. To serve in an army; to perform military service as a fighting member.
   - Simple: To serve in an army as a fighting member.
   - _After twenty years of soldiering in distant colonies, he found quiet farm life hard to bear._
   - _Many volunteers chose to soldier overseas during the war._

## Other meanings

- (verb) To deliberately work at the slowest pace that avoids punishment, in order to limit how much actually gets done.
- (noun) A xiangqi piece that moves and captures by advancing one point; after crossing the river, it may also move and capture one point sideways.
- (noun) A brick laid vertically on its smallest end, so that its tallest and slimmest face shows on the outside of the wall.
- (noun) A red or cuckoo gurnard (Chelidonichthys cuculus), a small reddish sea fish with a large, armored head.
- (noun) A red herring: a kipper cured and smoked until its flesh turns red and its flavor grows strong.
- (verb) To ride another person's horse without first getting their permission.

## Origin

Late Latin solidus, the name of a coin, gave Medieval Latin soldarius ("soldier, one having pay"). This passed into Old French as soudier or soudeour ("mercenary") and then into Middle English as soudeour. The word replaced Old English cempa.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/soldier (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).