soldiering

[ sohl-jer-ing ]

/ ˈsoʊl dʒər ɪŋ /

noun

the activity or career of a person who soldiers.

Origin of soldiering

First recorded in 1690–1700; soldier + -ing¹

Words nearby soldiering

soldier orchid, soldier settlement, soldier's heart, soldier's medal, soldierfish, soldiering, soldierly, soldiers' home, soldiery, soldo, sole

Definition for soldiering (2 of 2)

soldier

[ sohl-jer ]

/ ˈsoʊl dʒər /

noun

a person who serves in an army; a person engaged in military service.

an enlisted man or woman, as distinguished from a commissioned officer: the soldiers' mess and the officers' mess.

a person of military skill or experience: George Washington was a great soldier.

a person who contends or serves in any cause: a soldier of the Lord.

Also called button man. Slang. a low-ranking member of a crime organization or syndicate.

Entomology.

a member of a caste of sexually underdeveloped female ants or termites specialized, as with powerful jaws, to defend the colony from invaders.
a similar member of a caste of worker bees, specialized to protect the hive.

a brick laid vertically with the narrower long face out. Compare rowlock(def 2).

Informal. a person who avoids work or pretends to work; loafer; malingerer.

verb (used without object)

to act or serve as a soldier.

Informal. to loaf while pretending to work; malinger: He was soldiering on the job.

Verb Phrases

soldier on, to persist steadfastly in one's work; persevere: to soldier on until the work is done.

Origin of soldier

1250–1300; Middle English souldiour < Old French soudier, so(l)dier, equivalent to soulde pay (< Latin solidus; see sol²) + -ier -ier²

OTHER WORDS FROM soldier

sol·dier·ship, noun non·sol·dier, noun

Example sentences from the Web for soldiering

Reprinted with permission from WWII: A Chronicle of Soldiering by James Jones, published by the University of Chicago Press.

Blood in the Sand: When James Jones Wrote a Grunt’s View of D-Day |James Jones |November 15, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
But the confusion points to more serious problems with how our society thinks about both sex and soldiering.

Why These Marines Love ‘Frozen’—and Why It Matters |Aaron B. O’Connell |June 27, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
But there are two other candidates as well who are soldiering along without any national attention.

Nebraska’s GOP Cage Match |Ben Jacobs |March 21, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
As a teenager he developed a passion for soldiering, or, rather, the idea of it.

Proof of Life: America’s last POW |Christopher Dickey |January 16, 2014 |DAILY BEAST

ABC is soldiering on with the series, even though, with the loss of Oh, it will be on creative life support.

Pull the Plug on 'Grey's Anatomy' |Anna Brand |August 16, 2013 |DAILY BEAST
Those months passed pleasantly, and will ever be remembered as the best part of our three years' soldiering.

Campaign of the Fourteenth Regiment New Jersey Volunteers |J. Newton Terrill
He loves the noise of soldiering—he do; and if he thought you was going away without him, he'd break his heart, Mr. Cecil, sir.

Under Two Flags |Ouida [Louise de la Ramee]
General Sterling Price was a civilian who by natural inclination turned to soldiering.

The Civil War Through the Camera |Henry W. (Henry William) Elson
He had studied his trade of soldiering since he was old enough to talk.

A Treasury of Heroes and Heroines |Clayton Edwards
Or, to a friend of soldiering days: "Four blackguard boys and only a brace of the Plentiful Sex!"

Mount Music |E. Oe. Somerville and Martin Ross

British Dictionary definitions for soldiering

soldier

/ (ˈsəʊldʒə) /

noun

a person who serves or has served in an army
Also called: common soldier a noncommissioned member of an army as opposed to a commissioned officer

a person who works diligently for a cause

a low-ranking member of the Mafia or other organized crime ring

zoology

an individual in a colony of social insects, esp ants, that has powerful jaws adapted for defending the colony, crushing large food particles, etc
(as modifier)soldier ant

informal a strip of bread or toast that is dipped into a soft-boiled egg

verb (intr)

to serve as a soldier

obsolete, slang to malinger or shirk

Word Origin for soldier

C13: from Old French soudier, from soude (army) pay, from Late Latin solidus a gold coin, from Latin: firm

BROWSE DICTIONARY

Learning

soldiering

noun

Origin of soldiering

Words nearby soldiering

Definition for soldiering (2 of 2)

noun

verb (used without object)

Verb Phrases

Origin of soldier

OTHER WORDS FROM soldier

Example sentences from the Web for soldiering

British Dictionary definitions for soldiering

noun

verb (intr)

Word Origin for soldier