Sol"dier (?), n. [OE. souldier,
soudiour, souder, OF. soldier, soldoier,
soldeier, sodoier, soudoier, soudier, fr.
L. solidus a piece of money (hence applied to the pay of a
soldier), fr. solidus solid. See Solid, and cf.
Sold, n.] 1. One who is
engaged in military service as an officer or a private; one who serves
in an army; one of an organized body of combatants.
I am a soldier and unapt to weep.
Shak.
2. Especially, a private in military service,
as distinguished from an officer.
It were meet that any one, before he came to be a
captain, should have been a soldier.
Spenser.
3. A brave warrior; a man of military
experience and skill, or a man of distinguished valor; -- used by way
of emphasis or distinction. Shak.
4. (Zoöl.) The red or cuckoo
gurnard (Trigla pini.) [Prov. Eng.]
5. (Zoöl.) One of the asexual
polymorphic forms of white ants, or termites, in which the head and
jaws are very large and strong. The soldiers serve to defend the nest.
See Termite.
Soldier beetle (Zoöl.), an
American carabid beetle (Chauliognathus Americanus) whose larva
feeds upon other insects, such as the plum curculio. --
Soldier bug (Zoöl.), any hemipterous
insect of the genus Podisus and allied genera, as the spined
soldier bug (Podius spinosus). These bugs suck the blood
of other insects. -- Soldier crab
(Zoöl.) (a) The hermit crab.
(b) The fiddler crab. -- Soldier
fish (Zoöl.), a bright-colored etheostomoid
fish (Etheostoma cœruleum) found in the Mississippi
River; -- called also blue darter, and rainbow
darter. -- Soldier fly (Zoöl.),
any one of numerous species of small dipterous flies of the genus
Stratyomys and allied genera. They are often bright green, with
a metallic luster, and are ornamented on the sides of the back with
markings of yellow, like epaulets or shoulder straps. --
Soldier moth (Zoöl.), a large
geometrid moth (Euschema militaris), having the wings bright
yellow with bluish black lines and spots. -- Soldier
orchis (Bot.), a kind of orchis (Orchis
militaris).
Sol"dier, v. i. 1.
To serve as a soldier.
2. To make a pretense of doing something, or
of performing any task. [Colloq.U.S.]
&fist; In this sense the vulgar pronounciation
(sō"j&etilde;r) is jocosely preserved.
It needs an opera glass to discover whether the leaders
are pulling, or only soldiering.
C. D.
Warner.
Sol"dier (?), n. [OE. souldier,
soudiour, souder, OF. soldier, soldoier,
soldeier, sodoier, soudoier, soudier, fr.
L. solidus a piece of money (hence applied to the pay of a
soldier), fr. solidus solid. See Solid, and cf.
Sold, n.] 1. One who is
engaged in military service as an officer or a private; one who serves
in an army; one of an organized body of combatants.
I am a soldier and unapt to weep.
Shak.
2. Especially, a private in military service,
as distinguished from an officer.
It were meet that any one, before he came to be a
captain, should have been a soldier.
Spenser.
3. A brave warrior; a man of military
experience and skill, or a man of distinguished valor; -- used by way
of emphasis or distinction. Shak.
4. (Zoöl.) The red or cuckoo
gurnard (Trigla pini.) [Prov. Eng.]
5. (Zoöl.) One of the asexual
polymorphic forms of white ants, or termites, in which the head and
jaws are very large and strong. The soldiers serve to defend the nest.
See Termite.
Soldier beetle (Zoöl.), an
American carabid beetle (Chauliognathus Americanus) whose larva
feeds upon other insects, such as the plum curculio. --
Soldier bug (Zoöl.), any hemipterous
insect of the genus Podisus and allied genera, as the spined
soldier bug (Podius spinosus). These bugs suck the blood
of other insects. -- Soldier crab
(Zoöl.) (a) The hermit crab.
(b) The fiddler crab. -- Soldier
fish (Zoöl.), a bright-colored etheostomoid
fish (Etheostoma cœruleum) found in the Mississippi
River; -- called also blue darter, and rainbow
darter. -- Soldier fly (Zoöl.),
any one of numerous species of small dipterous flies of the genus
Stratyomys and allied genera. They are often bright green, with
a metallic luster, and are ornamented on the sides of the back with
markings of yellow, like epaulets or shoulder straps. --
Soldier moth (Zoöl.), a large
geometrid moth (Euschema militaris), having the wings bright
yellow with bluish black lines and spots. -- Soldier
orchis (Bot.), a kind of orchis (Orchis
militaris).
Sol"dier, v. i. 1.
To serve as a soldier.
2. To make a pretense of doing something, or
of performing any task. [Colloq.U.S.]
&fist; In this sense the vulgar pronounciation
(sō"j&etilde;r) is jocosely preserved.
It needs an opera glass to discover whether the leaders
are pulling, or only soldiering.
C. D.
Warner.
