soldier

Etymology

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).

noun

1. A member of a ground-based army, of any rank, but especially an enlisted member.
   Stanning, who was commissioned from Sandhurst in 2008 and has served in Afghanistan, is not the first soldier to bail out the organisers at these Games but will be among the most celebrated. August 1 2012, Owen Gibson, London 2012: rowers Glover and Stanning win Team GB's first gold medal, Guardian Unlimited
2. (by extension, nonstandard) Any member of a military, regardless of specialty.
3. An enlisted member of a military service, as distinguished from a commissioned officer.
4. A guardsman.
5. A member of the Salvation Army.
6. A low-ranking gangster or member of a gang, especially the mafia, who engages in physical conflict.
7. (Britain, Australia, New Zealand) 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. 2008, Nicholas Drayson, A Guide to the Birds of East Africa, page 180
8. A term of approbation for a young boy.
9. Someone who fights or toils well.
   2004, Eminem, "Like Toy Soldiers", Encore, Shady Records [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.
10. The red or cuckoo gurnard (Chelidonichthys cuculus).
11. One of the asexual polymorphic forms of termites, in which the head and jaws are very large and strong. The soldiers serve to defend the nest.
12. (slang, dated) A red herring (cured kipper with flesh turned red).
13. (xiangqi) A xiangqi piece that moves and captures by advancing one point. Once it has crossed the river, it may also move and capture one point horizontally.
14. One of the bricks in a course of brickwork that are laid vertically on their shortest ends, so that their narrowest edges face the outside of the wall.

verb

1. (intransitive) To continue steadfast; to keep striving.
2. (intransitive) To serve as a soldier.
3. (intransitive) To intentionally restrict labor productivity; to work at the slowest rate that goes unpunished.
4. (transitive, slang) 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! 1917, Cuthbert Fetherstonhaugh, After many days: being the reminiscences of Cuthbert Fetherstonhaugh