▪ I. soldier, n.
(ˈsəʊldʒə(r))
Forms: α. 4 saud-, sawder, 5 sauldyer; 4 sawdour, sawgeoure, 5 saud-, sawdiour, 5–6 sawdyour (5 -yor). β. 4 souder, 5 sowder(e, 6 -eer; 5 soudyre, 5–6 sowdier, 6 soudyer; 5 sowdear, 6 -iar, -yare, soudiar; 4 soudior, 5 -eor, sowdior, -yor(e; 4 soudour, 4–5 soudyour(e, 4–6 soudeour, -iour (4 -ioure), 6 soudgour, 7 soujour; 4 sowedeur, 4–5 sowdeour, -iour, 4–6 -your (5 -yowre). γ. 4–5 souldeour, 4–6 -your, 4, 6–7 -iour (6 sowldiour, soulddour); 6 souldiar, -yar, -yer, 6–8 souldier (6 -iere), 7–8 souldjer, 7 soulder. δ. 5–6 soldiour, 6–7 soldior, 6 soldear, -iar, 6– soldier (6 soilder, 7 soldjere). ε. 4 sodiour, -your, 6 sodioure, -ear, -ier. ζ. 6 sogear, -eour, soygear, soi-, sojour, -ar, 7 sojor, 7– soger, sodger.
[a. OF. soud(i)er, saudier, sodyer, soldier (also with different ending soldeier, -oier, etc.), f. soude sold n.1 (cf. med.L. solidārius). The obs. forms in -eo(u)r, -io(u)r, etc., correspond to the OF. variants soudiour, souldiour, -eour, soldiour, etc. Owing to the variation in both stem and termination, and the reduction of the di to j (g), the number of former spellings is unusually large.]
1. a. One who serves in an army for pay; one who takes part in military service or warfare; spec. one of the ordinary rank and file; a private.
common soldier: see common a. 12 b. private soldier: see private a. 2 b. foot-soldier: see foot n. 34 c. soldier of fortune: see fortune n. 1 e.
| α a 1300 Cursor M. 24789 He gadird sauders her and þar, To strenth his castels. 13.. K. Alis. 1399 (Laud. MS.), And seuen & tuenty hundreþ sawders, Stronge in felde, vpon destrers. c 1440 Contin. Brut 538 Caleis..was þat tyme kept with saudiours. c 1460 Towneley Myst. xxx. 222 Thou art the best sawgeoure that euer had I any. 1465 Paston Lett. I. 133 The olde sawdyors of Normaundy. c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon iii. 70, I am a sauldyer with Reynawde. [c 1500 Melusine 208 Your peple that be come hither to take your wages as sawdoyers.] |
| β 13.. Guy Warw. 5329 Wiþ þat come anoþer kniȝt..: Douke Otus soudour was he. 1338 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 109 Aniowe with þer souders was alle biseged & set. c 1350 Will. Palerne 3954, I sette ȝou for no soudiour but for souerayn lord. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) IV. 255 In þe secounde fyve ȝere þey hadde silver for to paye knyȝtes and soudeours. 1421 Rolls of Parlt. IV. 159/2 The pore liege men and Soudeors in the Town. c 1450 Merlin xii. 174 Lete vs geder oure kyn and oure frendes and sowderes out of alle londes. 1503 Act 19 Hen. VII, c. 12 ¶11 Callyng hymself a Sowedyer, Shipman, or Travelyngman. 1526 R. Whitford Martiloge (1893) 2 Amonge soudyours that were under the capytane & prynce Licyne. 1535 Coverdale 2 Sam. iv. 2 There were two men captaynes ouer the soudyers. 1538 Starkey England i. i. 3 He was..neuer gud capitayne that neuer was soudiar. |
| γ 1390 Gower Conf. I. 358 How thei stonde of on acord, The Souldeour forth with the lord. c 1400 Mandeville (1839) v. 38 Als moche takethe the Amyralle be him allone, as alle the other Souldyours han undre hym. 1474 Caxton Chesse ii. iv. (1883) 49 Whan the souldyours see that they [etc.]. 1530 Palsgr. 273/1 Souldier of a strange lande, avxiliaire. 1570–6 Lambarde Peramb. Kent (1826) 141 He maintained a great number of Souldiours within the Castle. 1625 Tuke Holy Eucharist A iij b, How that noble Worthy made them bee Destroyed of his souldjers presentlie. 1640–1 Kirkcudbright War-Committee's Minute Bk. (1855) 152 To mak present provisione..for clothes and schooes to thair awn souldiors. 1680 Otway Orphan ii. iii, Young Souldier, you've not only study'd War. |
| δ c 1450 Holland Howlat 641 Soldiouris and sumptermen to thai senȝeouris. a 1547 Surrey æneid ii. 11 What Myrmidon:..What stern Ulysses waged soldiar? 1557 Anc. Rec. Dubl. (1889) 468 Every freman becomyng a soilder. 1590 Sir J. Smyth Disc. Weapons Ded. 16 b, Such Officers..cannot faile to make good soldiers. 1601 Shakes. Twel. N. iii. iv. 339 As he is a Gentleman and a Soldiour. 1628–9 Digby Voy. Medit. (Camden) 16 The gran Hogi (that is secretarie) paying the soldiors. 1728 Young Love Fame iv. 254 Of boasting more than of a bomb afraid, A soldier should be modest as a maid. 1752 Hume Ess. & Treat. (1777) I. 275 A continual succession of wars makes every citizen a soldier. 1829 Scott Anne of G. xxxiv, The sight of your lordship..has waked the old soldier in myself. 1869 E. A. Parkes Pract. Hygiene (ed. 3) 623 The trade of the soldier is war. |
| ε c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) vi. 20 Pure knyghtes and sodyours selles þaire hernays. 1489 Barbour's Bruce v. 205 (Edin.), It wes all to gret perill Sa ner thir sodiourys to ga. 1529 Rastell Pastyme (1811) 108 And wyth new sodears..gave to Arthur anewe battell. 1556 Chron. Grey Friars (Camden) 16 The morrow after there ware sodiers arestyd & prisond. 1570 Levins Manip. 223 A sodioure, miles, bellator. |
| ζ 1532 in W. M. Williams Ann. Founders' Co. (1867) 214 These be the charges for the fyrst Soygears. 1559 Peebles Burgh Rec. (1872) 253 The inqueist ordanis the sojarris and allegit men of weir to depas incontinent of the tovne. 1573 Satir. Poems Reform. xxxix. 118 With certane Soiouris of the garysoun. 1640–1 Kirkcudbright War-Committee's Minute Bk. (1855) 9 The sogers, both the foote and horss. 1650 Z. Boyd in Zion's Flowers (1855) Introd. 48 Divers sojours did sing with us. 17.. Ramsay Soger Laddie ii, My doughty laddie..can as a soger and lover behave. 1782 Burns I'll go and be a Sodger 4 I'm twenty⁓three, and five-feet-nine,—I'll go and be a sodger! 1838 J. Grant Sk. London 219 Hollering aloud that he had been a sodger before, but that he was a gentleman now. 1840 R. H. Dana Bef. Mast iv, You're neither man, boy, soger, nor sailor! |
b. A man of military skill and experience.
| 1603 Shakes. Meas. for M. iii. ii. 155 Hee shall appeare to the enuious, a Scholler, a Statesman, and a Soldier. 1603 Mountjoy in Moryson Itin. (1617) ii. 284 Howsoever he be no Souldier, yet is [he] well acquainted with the businesse of the warre. 1852 Tennyson Ode Wellington 131 So great a soldier taught us there, What long-enduring hearts could do. 1862 Carlyle Fredk. Gt. xii. ii. III. 181 There is Count von Roth, Silesian Lutheran, an excellent Soldier. |
c. A small image of a soldier, intended as a child's toy.
| 1878 H. S. Leigh Town Garland 56, I will treat her young brother, methinks, To a boxful of soldiers instead. |
d. A member of the Salvation Army.
| 1876 W. Booth Salvation Soldiery (1882) 70 Get fixed in your mind the ungainsayable truth that every soldier can do something. 1890 ― In Darkest England ii. v. 168 Emma Y.—Now a Soldier of the Marylebone Slum Post. 1935 Chambers's Encycl. IX. 64/2 In some of the jails there is now a regularly organised corps of Salvation Army soldiers. 1978 Lochaber News 31 Mar. 3/2 At the evening service four young soldiers..were enrolled by Major Holstead. |
e. to play (at) soldiers: said of children; also derisively of volunteers.
| 1911 in Conc. Oxford Dict. s.v. Soldier. 1969 I. & P. Opie Children's Games xii. 338 There is a noteworthy difference between playing at ‘Soldiers’ and playing at ‘War’ with two opposing sides. Ibid., If they [sc. the boys] were playing soldiers, she took it as a warning that it was time for her to arm. 1977 Daily Mirror 16 Mar. 10/2 (Advt.), I can tell you that digging a trench in pouring rain when you've had no kip is hardly playing at soldiers. |
f. A rank-and-file member of the Mafia.
| 1963 Organized Crime & Illicit Traffic in Narcotics (Comm. Govt. Operations, U.S. Senate) i. 80 Then we had what we call a caporegima which is a lieutenant, and then we have what we call soldiers. 1970 L. Sanders Anderson Tapes lxxii. 218 The organization variably known as Cosa Nostra, Syndicate, Mafia, etc., even has military titles for its members—don for general or colonel, capo for major or captain, soldier for men in the ranks, etc. 1974 J. Gardner Corner Men xv. 248 Vescari was coming to him. There were several men around him, the don's soldiers. 1977 Time 16 May 35/3 Since then scores of new soldiers have signed up [in the Mafia]. |
2. fig. (usually with ref. to spiritual service or warfare). Also
const. to (a purpose, etc.).
| 1340 Ayenb. 146 We byeþ alle uelaȝes ine þe ost of oure Ihorde and his kniȝtes and his soudeurs. c 1500 Melusine 149 Þey name them self sawdyours of our lord Jeshu criste. 1549 Bk. Common Prayer, Publ. Bapt., To continewe his faythfull soldiour and seruaunt unto thy lyfes ende. 1580 in Allen Martyrdom Campion (1908) 25 Very many..being restored to the Church, new souldiars geve up their names. 1608 Shakes. Per. iv. i. 8 Nor let pity..melt thee, but be A soldier to thy purpose. 1611 ― Cymb. iii. iv. 186 This attempt, I am Souldier too. 1649 Bp. Reynolds Hosea ii. 74 Such an oath have all Christ's Souldiers taken. 1737 Challoner Cath. Chr. Instr. (1753) 20 To make them Soldiers of Christ, and perfect Christians. 1810 Shelley Tremble Kings 5 We all are soldiers fit to fight. 1860 J. W. Warter Sea-board II. 466 No mean soldier of the Church Militant here on earth. |
b. to come the old soldier over one, to take one in, impose upon one. (See
come v. 29.)
| 1824 Scott St. Ronan's xviii, I should think he was coming the old soldier over me, and keeping up his game. 1861 Hughes Tom Brown at Oxf. II. xvii. 331 But you needn't try to come the old soldier over me. I'm not quite such a fool as that. |
c. old soldier: one practised or experienced in a thing, or one who pretends to be so. (See also
quot. 1912.) Also
attrib. Cf. senses 2 b and 2 d.
| 1722 [see old a. 5 b]. 1858 Geo. Eliot Lett. (1954) II. 511 He..will be as much interested as I shall be in knowing about the vicissitudes of Coventry journalism, when any new phase or crisis comes of which you can tell us. He is an old soldier, and cares for battles of that sort. 1912 R. A. Freeman Singing Bone ii. 119 Poor Pratt was what you'd call an old soldier—sly, you know, sir—and a bit of a sneak. 1949 [see head n.1 54]. 1950 N. Cardus Second Innings 93 The umpire (an old soldier) confidentially tells you he could see it all coming. |
d. Naut. slang (
orig. and chiefly
U.S.). A worthless seaman; a loafer, a shirker. Also
old soldier.
Cf. soldier v. 1 d.
| 1840 R. H. Dana Two Yrs. before Mast xvii. 154 The captain called him a ‘soger’, and promised to ‘ride him down’. 1849 [see soldiering vbl. n. 2]. 1850 H. Melville White Jacket II. xxx. 205 Off Cape Horn some ‘sogers’ of sailors will stand cupping, and bleeding, and blistering, before they will budge. 1898 A. J. Boyd Shellback ii. 28 Some are good men, some mere ‘sojers’ (useless as seamen—loafers). 1933 E. P. Mitchell Deep Water xxi. 184, I hear that you have shipped as an A.B. You don't look like one, and if you're a soldier you'll get soldier's jobs and be disrated. 1958 B. Hamilton Too Much of Water vi. 140 He's a bit of an old soldier, but a first-rate seaman, and a hundred per cent reliable at sea. |
e. dead soldier (
U.S. slang): an empty bottle.
Cf. (
dead)
marine s.v. marine n. 4 d.
| 1917 in Dialect Notes IV. 322. 1929 New Yorker 9 Feb. 42/3 His aim with a dead soldier was..unerring. 1940 R. Chandler Farewell, my Lovely v. 33, I held up the dead soldier and shook it. Then I..reached for the pint of bonded bourbon. 1979 R. Gillespie Crossword Mystery ii. 50 There weren't any prints on that bottle... That dead soldier was as clean as a whistle. |
f. colloq. A strip or finger of bread or toast.
| 1966 N. Freeling Dresden Green i. 73 Potato soup with fried onions and ‘soldiers’ of fried bread. 1971 J. Grigson Good Things 120 First dip the asparagus into the butter, then into the runny egg yolk, as if it were a child's bread ‘soldier’. 1979 Woman's Own 21 Apr. 8/3 Our medical writer..advises: ‘Bread, butter and milk is a good idea, but you can't really beat a boiled egg and {oqq}soldiers{cqq}.’ |
3. transf. Used as a name for various animals, fishes, etc.
† a. A turtle.
Obs.| 1608 Topsell Serpents (1658) 798 This Sea-tortoise.., which the common fisher-men call ‘the Soldier’, because his back seemeth to be armed and covered with a shield and helmet. |
b. The soldier-crab or hermit-crab.
| 1666 J. Davies Hist. Caribby Isles 78 There is a kind of Snailes, called by the French Soldats that is Souldiers, because they have no shells proper and peculiar to themselves. 1697 W. Dampier Voy. (1699) 39 Under those Trees we found plenty of Soldiers, that live in Shells,..and have two great Claws like a Crab. 1725 Sloane Jamaica II. 272 This small Lobster or Crab differs in very little from the European Souldjer or Hermit-Crab. 1782 P. H. Bruce Mem. xii. 424 Their shell-fish are conques, perriwinkles, coneys, sogers, wilkes, etc. 1833 M. Scott Tom Cringle vi, The amphibious little creatures, half crab, half lobster, called soldiers. |
† c. = soldier-insect (see 9).
| 1699 Wafer Voy. 110 If these Soldiers eat of any of the Manchineel-Apples.., their Flesh becomes..infected with that virulent Juice. |
† d. A Brazilian fish, of which the native name is
camboatá.
Obs.| 1703 W. Dampier Voy. (1729) III. i. 416 The River Souldier. It's mail'd somewhat like a Sturgeon, the Meat good; they say it gets on Land to seek for Water when the Rivers are near dry. |
e. A fighting ant or termite; also
Austr., a species of large red ant.
| (a) 1781 Phil. Trans. LXXI. 145 Of every species there are three orders; first, the working insects,..next the fighting ones, or soldiers. 1871 Kingsley At Last viii, The workers and soldiers, I believe, without exception, are blind. 1898 E. P. Evans Evol. Ethics vi. 210 The soldiers may be undeveloped males, although this is by no means certain. |
| (b) 1854 G. H. Haydon Australian Emigrant 59 It was a red ant, upwards of an inch in length—‘that's a soldier, and he prods hard too’. 1881 Chequered Career 324, I was bitten once by a ‘soldier’, and for ten minutes was in frightful agony. |
f. One of several deep-water fishes with reddish skins,
esp. one of the genus
Hoplostethus.
| 1846 Zoologist IV. 1402 The Red Gurnard, Trigla cuculus. This species is frequently called ‘soldier’. 1905 Haslope Pract. Sea-Fishing 97 Small Pollack sometimes acquire a bright red colour, and then are termed ‘soldiers’ in Cornwall. 1935 ‘R. M.’ Trawler x. 51 By far the most plentiful animals in all the catch were the ‘soldiers’. 1953 [see dageraad]. 1971 Grocott's Mail (Grahamstown, S. Afr.) 28 May 3 Mrs. E. Birch took both the ladies' awards with a soldier of 0·963 kg, another unusual fish and decidedly a deep sea species. 1974 Nature 22 Mar. 306/3 The berycoid fishes comprise a mixture of deepwater ‘soldiers’, Hoplostethus, and other genera. |
g. slang. A red herring.
| 1811 Lexicon-Balatronicum, Soldier, a red herring. 1835 Marryat J. Faithful x, He returned, bringing half a dozen red herrings. ‘Here, Tom, grill these sodgers.’ 1883 Day Fishes Gt. Brit. II. 210 A red herring..sailors usually designate..as a sodger, or soldier. |
h. A red spider; a small red beetle; a ladybird.
| 1848 Johnston in Proc. Berw. Nat. Club II. vi. 290 This insect is called a Tant in England... Our children call it the Soldier, from its scarlet colour. 1854 A. E. Baker Northampt. Gloss., Soldier, the small beetle known to entomologists as the Cantharis livida. 1858 Kingsley Misc. (1859) I. 189 The soldier, the soft-winged reddish beetle which haunts the umbelliferous flowers. 1863 [see sailor 3 b]. |
i. Austr. (See
quot.)
| 1898 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Rom. Canvas Town 76 They rode on,..seeing nothing living save..four ‘soldiers’ or forest kangaroos. |
j. U.S. (See
quot.)
| 1904 P. Fountain Great North-West xix. 224 A bird known locally [in Ohio] as ‘the marshal’, and sometimes ‘the soldier’... It is a very gaudy woodpecker with a great deal of scarlet in the colour of its plumage. |
4. dial. As a plant-name (see
quot.).
See also
fresh-water and
water soldier.
| 1854 A. E. Baker Northampt. Gloss., Soldier, another local name for the field poppy, Papaver Rhæas. |
5. A disease of swine characterized by red patches on the skin. (
Cf. soldier-disease in 9.)
| 1882 F. Vacher Transmiss. Disease by Food 4 Erysipelas is far from rare among cattle and swine; and passing under such names as..‘soldier’ is often counted but a trifling ailment. 1890 Lancet 2 Aug. 217/2 A disorder affecting pigs, called..in Ireland ‘red soldier’, from the red patches that appear on the skin in fatal cases. |
6. A soldier-line (see 9).
| 1865 Wilcocks Sea-fisherman (1875) 82 The tide now began to run considerably stronger, and more length on the lines was requisite: I therefore prepared to ‘rig a soldier’. |
7. In allusion to the resemblance to a line of soldiers on parade.
a. Carpentry. Each of a series of short vertical pieces of wood to which a skirting-board is fixed.
| 1927 T. Corkhill in R. Greenhalgh Building Educator II. 817/2 The vertical grounds, or soldiers.., are plugged to the wall about every 3 ft. apart. 1950 M. T. Telling Carpentry & Joinery v. 200 The skirting is fixed with nails to the horizontal ground and to the short vertical grounds called ‘soldiers’. |
b. Building. (See
quot.)
Cf. soldier arch,
course, sense 9 below.
| 1929 W. C. Huntington Building Constr. iv. 130 Belt courses and flat arches may be formed of brick[s] set on end with the narrow side exposed. Such bricks are called soldiers. |
c. Building. Each of a series of vertical members of timber or metal used to hold formwork in position or support the lining of an excavation.
| 1932 Dowsett & Bartle Practical Formwork & Shuttering ii. 19 The ribs are held in position by uprights made from 3{pp} × 6{pp} material; these uprights—frequently referred to as ‘soldiers’—are in turn held by 3{pp} × 6{pp} horizontal timbers called ‘walings’. 1932 T. Corkhill Conc. Building Encycl. 197 Soldiers,..heavy vertical timbers placed across several walings and strutted. This is done in stages, to remove the lower struts for a deep excavation, as the wall is built. 1961 Engineering 8 Dec. 739/1 Aluminium ‘soldiers’ are being used..to support the shuttering for the concrete shields of the reactors. 1970 W. G. Nash Brickwork Three viii. 175 When a sufficient depth has been supported in this way the whole system is held back by soldiers which are secured by the permanent struts. |
8. attrib. and
Comb. a. Appositive, as
soldier-boy,
soldier-colonist,
soldier-hero,
soldier-laddie,
soldier-man, etc.
| 1861 in Rebellion Rec. (1862) I. iii. 91 My hungry *soger-boys shall soon have meat and drink. 1978 J. Barnett Head of Force viii. 72 This was his field. The soldier-boy was out of his depth. |
| 1852 Mundy Antipodes (1857) 196 The attempt to make the *soldier-colonist a landed proprietor. |
| a 1892 Tennyson in Q. Rev. Oct. (1897) 524 Our great, simple *soldier-hero Gordon. |
| 17.. Ramsay Soger Laddie i, My *soger laddie is over the sea. [1786 Har'st Rig xcviii, The Grey Breeks next, and then she'll try The Sodger Laddie. 1847 Tennyson Princ. Prol. 86 While the twangling violin Struck up with Soldier⁓laddie.] |
| 1801 R. L. & M. Edgeworth Irish Bulls (1803) 153 Some of his *soldiermen being of the company. 1893 Stevenson Catriona xxx. 354, I went among soldier-men to their big dinners. |
| 1894 H. Speight Nidderdale 187 The original house of the old *soldier-monks at Ribston. |
| 1823 W. Robinson in J. A. Heraud Voy. & Mem. Midshipman vi. (1837) 101 In a race we had..against the *soldier-officers..there was a capsize. |
| 1808 Mitford Hist. Greece xxviii. §ix. III. 549 [Xenophon] the *soldier-philosopher-author. |
| 1912 D. H. Lawrence in Eng. Rev. Jan. 373 Liliencron is well represented. But this *soldier poet is so straight, so free from the modern artist's hyper-sensitive self-consciousness, that we would have more of him. 1958 Blunden War Poets 1914–18 i. 13 The number and the activity of the soldier-poets of Britain in the First World War were bewildering. |
| 1830 Tennyson Sonn. to J. M. K. 2 A latter Luther, and a *soldier-priest. |
| 1852 Mundy Antipodes (1857) 35 The old *soldier-robber remaining doggedly at bay. |
| 1892 T. A. Cook Old Touraine I. 10 If there is one thing for which Tours is famous it is for its *soldier-saint. |
| 1871 Swinburne Songs bef. Sunrise, Blessed among Women 11 A godlike *soldier⁓saviour. |
| 1794 W. B. Stevens Jrnl. 13 Feb. (1965) 135 Stables has displayed a boisterousness of temper..to his *Soldier-Servant..which I cannot palliate. 1872 Routledge's Ev. Boy's Ann. 186/2 An awkward soldier-servant. |
b. Attributive, as
soldier-caste,
soldier-city,
soldier-class,
soldier-craft, etc.
| 1847 Mrs. A. Kerr tr. Ranke's Hist. Servia 455 The immediate domination of the *soldier-caste. |
| 1847 Tennyson Princ. v. 7 Threading the *soldier-city. |
| 1847 Mrs. A. Kerr tr. Ranke's Hist. Servia 160 There was no *soldier-class in Servia. |
| 1855 S. Palmer in Gilchrist Life Blake I. 303 That we heard so much of priestcraft, and so little of *soldiercraft and lawyercraft. |
| 1844 Lever T. Burke II. 163 Even there, again, I but showed my *soldier education. |
| 1814 Scott Ld. of Isles iii. v, Then do me but the *soldier grace, This glove upon thy helm to place. |
| a 1835 Mrs. Hemans Burial in the Desert Poems (1875) 517 With a few brief words of *soldier-love. |
| 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. ii. ii. ii, How these things may act on the rude *soldier-mind. |
| 1921 Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 25 Mar. 1/5 The opening for *soldier settlement of about two townships from the Riding Mountain, Manitoba, reserve, will be held at the Dominion land office in Dauphin, Manitoba, in about two weeks. 1930 W. K. Hancock Australia vii. 141 It would..be not altogether unfair to separate soldier settlement from closer settlement, and to consider the former as part of the cost of the war. 1977 Weekly Times (Melbourne) 19 Jan. 39/2 The property remained in the Bell family until taken up under Soldier Settlement by Mr J. Smedley after World War 2. |
| 1810 Scott Lady of L. vi. ii, At dawn the towers of Stirling rang With *soldier-step and weapon-clang. |
| 1944 S. Bellow Dangling Man 182 I'd murder him, *soldier suit or no soldier suit. 1977 H. Fast Immigrants ii. 141 If you have to put on that lousy soldier suit to live with yourself, then for Christ's sake become a medic or a clerk or something like that. |
c. Miscellaneous, as
soldier-breeder;
soldier-hearted,
soldier-mad adjs.;
soldier-wise adv.| 1599 Shakes. Hen. V, v. ii. 219 Thou must therefore needes proue a good Souldier-breeder. 1824 Medwin Conversat. Byron II. 206 Lord Byron..became, as one of the letters from the place..expresses it, soldier-mad. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. ii. i. xi, They have shouldered, soldier-wise, their shovels and picks. 1848 Blackw. Mag. Mar. 353 They were buried soldier-fashion in the same grave. 1849 [W. M. W. Call] Reverb. ii. 5 Be thou wise and earnest, good and brave, Soldier-hearted. |
9. Special combs., as
soldier-ant,
= sense 3 e;
soldier arch Building, a soldier course serving as a lintel;
soldier bean N. Amer., the mottled kidney-shaped seeds of certain varieties of
Phaseolus vulgaris;
soldier-beetle,
= sense 3 h;
(old) soldier bird, an Australian bird,
Myzomela sanguinolenta, with bright red plumage;
soldier-bug, a predacious North American bug of the genus
Podisus of the family Pentatomidæ,
esp. P. maculiventris, which is yellowish brown and has a spine on the under-side of its head;
soldier-bush,
= soldier-wood;
soldier course Building, a course of bricks set on end with their narrower long face exposed;
soldier disease,
= sense 5;
† soldierfare, military service or experience;
soldier-fish = squirrel 4 and
squirrel-fish s.v. squirrel 7 b;
soldier fly orig. U.S. [
tr. mod.L.
Stratiomys], an often brightly coloured fly of the family Stratiomyidæ, the larvæ of which damage the roots of certain grasses;
† soldier-insect (see
quot.);
soldier-line (see
quot. and
cf. sense 6);
† soldier money, ? money spent in assisting poor soldiers;
soldier-moth,
-orchis (see
quots.);
soldier orchid = military orchid s.v. military a. 3 b;
soldier palmer, an artificial fly used in angling;
soldier-pink dial., a minnow;
soldier-plant,
-thighed a.,
-wood (see
quots.);
soldier-termite = sense 3 e.
| 1857 Livingstone Trav. xxvii. 537, I observed many regiments of black *soldier-ants. |
| 1963 Seakins & Smith Practical Brickwork xiv. 174 (caption) Flexible D.P.C. behind *soldier arch. 1972 S. Smith Brickwork xiv. 73 A method of supporting a soldier arch by means of wire ties built into a concrete lintel at the rear, is shown. |
| [1931 W. G. McGregor Field Beans in Canada 8 In Nova Scotia..four leading varieties..are Navy Ottawa 711, White Marrowfat, Soldier, and Yellow Eye.] 1968 E. R. Buckler Ox Bells & Fireflies vi. 101 Yellow-eyed *soldier beans to be threshed on the barn floor with the leather-jointed flail. |
| 1855 Ogilvie Suppl., *Soldier-beetle, a name given to coleopterous insects of the genus Telephorus. 1883 W. Saunders Insects Inj. Fruits 185 The larva of the soldier-beetle, Chauliognathus Americanus.., is also a useful agent in destroying the curculio. |
| 1857 D. Bunce Australas. Rem. 62 The notes peculiar to the..leather-head or old *soldier bird, added in no small degree to the novelties. 1881 Encycl. Brit. XII. 139 The males are recognizable by a gorgeous display of crimson or scarlet, which has caused one species..to be known as the Soldier-bird to Australian colonists. |
| 1868 Mich. Agric. Rep. VII. 175 [I] found [them] to be *soldier-bugs, with their long harpoon bills thrust into a fine fat slug. 1946 Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch 4 Feb. 4/1 More than two tons of it [sc. an insecticide made from sabadilla] was used this year to kill.. the soldier bugs in Illinois. 1948 Dalzell & Townsend Masonry Simplified I. vii. 268 *Soldier courses are used mainly as a water table around a building at the level of the first floor. 1979 Arizona Daily Star 1 Apr. (Advt. Section) 22/3 Burnt adobe hacienda with Soldier Course on parapet. |
| 1878 Typhoid Fever Order (Privy Council), Typhoid fever of Swine (otherwise called *Soldier disease or red disease). |
| 1579–80 North Plutarch, Sertorius (1612) 584 The first time of his *souldierfare was, when the Cimbres and Teutons inuaded Gavle. 1632 Holland Cyrupædia 43 Whatsoever by their souldier-fare in this expedition, they shall win. |
| 1882 Jordan & Gilbert Syn. Fishes N. Amer. 517 Pæcilechthys cæruleus, Blue Darter; Rainbow Darter; *Soldier-fish. 1905 D. S. Jordan Guide to Study of Fishes II. xv. 253 The *soldier-fishes (Holocentridæ) also known as squirrel-fishes..are shore fishes very characteristic of rocky banks in the tropical seas. 1931 J. R. Norman Hist. Fishes iv. 69 Soldier-fishes..of the coral reefs of tropical seas derive their name from the stout and sharply pointed spines with which the fins are provided. 1961 E. S. Herald Living Fishes of World 157/1 Squirrelfishes or soldier-fishes..tend to hide in crevices and cracks. |
| 1842 T. W. Harris Treat. Insects New England Injurious to Vegetation 408 Most of the *soldier-flies..are armed with two thorns or sharp spines on the hinder part of the thorax. 1905 V. L. Kellogg Amer. Insects xiii. 329 The soldier-flies, Stratiomyidæ, are unfamiliar insects... Many of the species have bright yellow or green markings, and most of them have the abdomen curiously broad and flattened. 1952 J. Clegg Freshwater Life Brit. Isles xiv. 238 The Soldier-flies are the first of the stouter, short-horned flies to be considered. 1975 N.Z. Jrnl. Agric. Sept. 7/1 Infestations of grassgrub and soldier fly..have the effect of inducing a clover-strong pasture which increases the danger of bloat. |
| 1699 Wafer Voy. 110 There is a sort of Insect like a Snail in great plenty among the Samballoe's, which is call'd the *Soldier-Insect.., because of the Colour. |
| 1865 Wilcocks Sea-fisherman (1875) 82 A *soldier-line is one of two-stranded hemp twine, having for a sinker a two-pound Mackerel plummet, and is made fast to a strong flexible stick [etc.]. |
| 1593 Churchw. Acc. Pittington, etc. (Surtees) 35 Item given to Roberte Morie for *Soldier monie (as he cald it) the xxiiij of November, xiij d. 1603 Ibid. 52 Item given to Thomas Kinge for Souldere monie the last day of March, viij s. viij d. |
| 1882 Cassell's Nat. Hist. VI. 67 The *Soldier Moth (Euschema militaris) is the commonest. |
| 1934, 1969 *Soldier orchid [see military orchid s.v. military a. 3 b]. |
| 1863 Prior Plant-n., *Soldier-orchis, from a fancied resemblance in it to a soldier, Orchis militaris. |
| 1839 T. C. Hofland Brit. Angler's Man. xi. (1841) 164 The house fly and small *soldier palmer. 1867 F. Francis Angling vi. (1880) 245 Soldier Palmer. A capital fly in warm weather. |
| 1854 A. E. Baker Northampt. Gloss., *Soldier-pink, the minnow, called by ichthyologists the Cyprynus Proxinus. |
| 1864 Grisebach Flora Brit. W. Ind. 787/2 *Soldier-plant, Calliandra purpurea. |
| 1963 *Soldier-termite [see nasute a. 3]. |
| 1825 Jamieson Suppl., *Sodger-thee'd, having little or no money in one's pocket. [Cf. soldier's thigh in 9.] |
| 1823 Crabb Technol. Dict. II, *Soldier-wood,..the Mimosa purpurea of Linnæus. 1824 Loudon Encycl. Gard. (ed. 2) 1223/1 Soldier-wood, inga purpurea. 1866 Treas. Bot. 1071/2 Soldier-wood, Calliandra purpurea. |
10. a. Possessive combs., as
† soldier's bottle, a bottle of extra size;
† soldier's boy, a camp-follower;
soldier's breeze = soldier's wind;
† soldier's cloth, coarse cloth;
soldier's farewell slang, an abusive farewell (
cf. sailor's farewell s.v. sailor 5 c);
soldier's heart,
Path., a diseased state of the heart, characterized by a throbbing sensation in the chest and a difficulty in breathing;
= irritable heart;
soldiers' home, a place of stay for soldiers;
† soldier's mawnd,
slang (see
quots.);
soldier's spots,
Path., a variety of macula;
soldier's supper, a smoke and a drink of water;
soldier's thigh,
dial. (see
quot., and
cf. soldier-thighed in 9);
soldier's wind, a wind which serves either way.
| a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, *Soldier's-bottle, a large one. 1731–8 Swift Polite Conv. 177, I hope, you'll give me a Soldier's Bottle. |
| 1611 Cotgr., Goujat, a *Souldiors boy... Goujaterie, Souldiors boyes, or the young rakehells that follow a Campe. |
| 1894 Stevenson & Osbourne Ebb-Tide ii. vii. 125 The Farallone made a *soldier's breeze of it. |
| 1753 Hanway Trav. II. ii. xxvi. 156 The advantage in favour of the British subjects in Russia..is about one third part in the customs of *soldiers cloths. |
| 1909 J. R. Ware Passing Eng. 229/1 *Soldier's farewell, ‘Go to bed’, with noisy additions. 1936 J. Curtis Gilt Kid viii. 82 ‘Good-bye. I hope they'll poke you into the Lock Hospital.’ ‘Soldier's farewell to you.’ 1938 F. D. Sharpe Sharpe of Flying Squad xviii. 184 As you pass through the door, you'll sometimes hear a raspberry... No one wants to accept responsibility for that soldier's farewell. 1979 Guardian 12 Nov. 2/5 One school of thought within ITN..is that..the darling [newsreader] of millions then decided to say a soldier's farewell. |
| 1898 Allbutt's Syst. Med. V. 851 *Soldier's heart.—I venture to give this name to a disease well-known to physicians in the army. 1967 Punch 29 Mar. 458/3 World War One produced, besides Trench Foot, a syndrome called *Soldier's Heart, caused by great anxiety coupled with severe physical strain. 1971 Soldier's heart [see irritable a. 2 b]. |
| 1860 Mrs. Gaskell Let. 10 Dec. (1966) 640 This autumn [I]..helped Florence Nightingale..in establishing a *Soldier's [sic] Home in Gibraltar where they can have cheap refreshments, can read, play games, write letters, &c. 1866 J. C. Gregg Life in Army xxvi. 224 The idea of a Soldiers' Home is, I believe, original with the American people... It is said to have been first instituted in the city of Baltimore in 1861. 1900 Congress. Rec. 19 Jan. 1001/1 Part of his [sc. the veteran's] meager pension [is] confiscated at Soldiers' Homes. |
| a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, *Souldiers-Mawn'd, a Counterfeit Sore or Wound in the Left Arm. 1785 Grose Dict. Vulgar T., Soldiers mawnd, a pretended soldier, begging with a counterfeit wound. |
| 1873 Dunglison's Dict. Med. Sci., *Soldier's spots, Maculæ albæ. |
| 1893 J. A. Barry Steve Brown's Bunyip 31 A bite o' rotten bread for breakfus, ditto for dinner, an' a *soldier's supper. |
| 1841 Hartshorne Salop. Ant. Gloss., *Soldier's thigh, a slang term for an empty pocket. |
| 1833 Marryat P. Simple xvi, The wind was what is called at sea a *soldier's wind, that is, blowing so that the ships could lie either way, so as to run out or into the harbour. 1893 H. M. Doughty Wherry in Wendish Lands 312 Thence down the Schwielow See, with a light soldier's wind, we crept contentedly to past the Gänse horn. |
b. In various plant-names, as
soldier's cap,
cullion,
herb,
tea,
weed,
woundwort,
yarrow.
| 1854 A. E. Baker Northampt. Gloss., *Soldier's caps, the flowers of the monkshood. |
| 1597 Gerarde Herbal i. ci. 166 *Souldiers Cullions hath many leaues spred vpon the ground, but lesser than the Souldiers Satyrion. 1760 J. Lee Introd. Bot. App. 327 Soldier's Cullions, Orchis. |
| 1601 Holland Pliny II. 204 The herb which they cal Militaris [marg. The *soulders hearbe]. 1611 Florio, Herba militare, the souldiers hearbe. |
| 1893 Dunglison's Dict. Med. Sci., Matico, *Soldier's tea or herb; South American herb, order Piperaceæ. |
| 1851 Dunglison Ibid. (ed. 4), *Soldier's weed [1893 wood], Matico. |
| 1866 Sowerby's Eng. Bot. V. 58 It [yarrow] was formerly esteemed as a vulnerary, and its old names of ‘*soldier's wound-wort’ and ‘knight's milfoil’ bear witness to this. |
| 1578 Lyte Dodoens 143 The second is called..in English..*Souldiers yerrow. 1597 Gerarde Herbal ii. cclxxxv. 677 Militaris aquatica, and Militaris Aizoides, or Soldiers Yarrow. |
▪ II. soldier, v. (
ˈsəʊldʒə(r))
Also 7
souldiour, 8–9
Sc. and
dial. sodger, 9
soger,
sojer.
[f. the n.] 1. a. intr. To act or serve as a soldier. Also with
it.
| α 1647 R. Gentilis tr. Malvezzi's Chiefe Events 187 If I souldiour it with so great a souldiour. 1815 Ann. Reg., Chron. App. 307, I will soldier it with anybody, but I will not go to school. 1825 in Col. Hawker Diary (1893) I. 287 Too busy soldiering to think of pheasant shooting. 1867 Morning Star 30 Jan., I have soldiered for six months at a stretch on a penny a day. 1889 Sat. Rev. 16 Mar. 319/1 They soldier as if their very lives depended on it. |
| β 1818 Scott Rob Roy xviii, Thae papist cattle that hae been sodgering abroad. 1852 J. Fraser King Jas. V, iii. ii, He..said he would sodger nae mair. |
b. In phrase
to go (a-)soldiering.
| 1756 H. Walpole Lett. (1846) III. 229 If you think of conveying them through Moreland, he is gone a soldiering. 1816 Scott Old Mort. vi, This comes o' letting ye gang a-sodgering for a day. 1845 James Arrah Neil vii, It does not do to go soldiering in these times without money in one's pocket. 1896 Pall Mall Mag. Dec. 458 It was my mother's name, and good to go soldiering with. |
c. dial. To bully; to hector. (Halliwell, 1847.)
d. To feign illness, to malinger; to make a mere show of working, to shirk.
| 1840 R. H. Dana Bef. Mast iv, There is no time to be lost,—no ‘sogering’, or hanging back then. 1876 C. D. Warner Winter on Nile 248 They stretch out..so far that it needs an opera-glass to discover whether the leaders are pulling or only soldiering. 1890 Clark Russell My Shipmate Louise I. vi. 119 Finding fault with some fellow for ‘sogering’, as it is called. |
e. Mil. slang. To furbish up accoutrements, etc.
| 1885 J. H. Ewing Story Short Life 35, I was busy soldiering till too late; so I come in this morning. |
f. to soldier on: to persevere, to carry on doggedly.
| 1954 K. Amis Lucky Jim vii. 77 The eeriness..disconcerted him..but he soldiered pluckily on to his objective. 1959 Times 20 Aug. 3/6 Lomax soldiered on and at tea had made 68. 1963 Times 21 Feb. 13/2 To give the maximum increase to the new recruits..and to offer a much smaller percentage to men and women who have soldiered on into the thirties and forties is a division hard to justify. 1978 Jrnl. R. Soc. Med. LXXI. 648 The alternatives are to let the patient soldier on, or to take the radical approach of abdominoperineal resection. |
2. trans. a. ? To drill or train.
| 1780 S. J. Pratt Emma Corbett (ed. 4) I. 107 Confess, that I am sufficiently soldier'd; for I can hold the pen, and impress the quiet-seeming sentiment. |
b. To serve
out one's time as a soldier.
| 1873 Daily News 21 May 5/6 A man may soldier out his term in the British cavalry [etc.]. |
c. Austr. slang. To make temporary use of (another man's horse).
Hence
ˈsoldiering ppl. a.| 1607 Middleton The Phœnix i. ii, Enter the Captain with soldiering fellows. 1795 Burns ‘Fy, let us a'’ x, The wild Scot o' Galloway, Sodgerin gunpowder Blair. |