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soldier

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soldier of fortune

1. A soldier who serves the person or organization paying him or her, rather than his or her country; a mercenary. Although the nation only had a small population, it boosted the size of its army by hiring soldiers of fortune.

2. A person who seeks adventure or military engagement for money, pleasure, or fame. The novel depicts a soldier of fortune who risks his life for notoriety.

See also: fortune, of, soldier

soldier on

to continue to do something in a determined way, esp. when you know you may not succeed She was working with these gorgeous guys, and she managed to soldier on despite being a bit intimidated by them.

See also: on, soldier

a soldier of fortune

  (literary)

someone who fights for any country or group that will pay him A soldier of fortune in the service of both Christian and Muslim kings, he was constantly fighting from 1065.

See also: fortune, of, soldier

dead soldier

Also, dead man. An empty liquor, wine, or beer bottle, as in Their trash barrel's full of dead soldiers; they must drink a lot, or That dead man sticking out of your pocket alerted the officer to the fact that you'd been drinking. Dead man has been slang for "empty bottle" since the late 1600s but has been largely replaced by dead soldier, dating from the late 1800s.

See also: dead, soldier

dead soldier

and dead man and dead marine and dead one

1. n. an empty liquor or beer bottle. Toss your dead soldiers in the garbage, please. There’s a dead one under the bed and another in the fireplace!

2. n. a cigarette butt. (Less common than sense 1) The bum found a dead soldier on the ground and picked it up.

See also: dead, soldier

old soldier

1. n. a cigarette or cigar butt; a hunk of tobacco. The tramp bent over to pick up an old soldier off the pavement.

2. n. an empty liquor bottle; an empty beer bottle or can. Larry hid all his old soldiers under the bed.

See also: old, soldier

soldier

1. n. a liquor bottle; an empty liquor bottle. (see also dead soldier.) Toss your soldier into the garbage, please.

2. n. a whole tobacco cigarette. The old man almost fell over trying to pick up the soldier from the sidewalk.

soldier rag

n. a cap to cover a hairdo. The mugger was wearing a soldier rag and threatened me with a gun.

See also: rag, soldier