soldier

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   an enlisted man or woman who serves in an army

   the soldiers stood at attention

2. 2
   noun

   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.

3. 3
   noun

   An enlisted member of a military service, as distinguished from a commissioned officer.

   She saw a soldier while collecting her baggage at the airport.

4. 4
   noun

   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.

5. 5
   noun

   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.

6. 6
   verb

   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!

7. 7
   noun

   a wingless sterile ant or termite having a large head and powerful jaws adapted for defending the colony

8. 8
   verb

   serve as a soldier in the military

Etymology

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".