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Acting for reward; serving for pay; paid; hired; hireling; venal; as, mercenary soldiers.

The man who occupies a central position in a file of soldiers.

Engaged in warfare; fighting; combating; serving as a soldier. -- Mil"i*tant*ly, adv. At which command the powers militant... Moved on in silence. Milton. Church militant, the Christian church on earth, which is supposed to be engaged in a constant warfare against its enemies, and is thus distinguished from the church…

Of or pertaining to soldiers, to arms, or to war; belonging to, engaged in, or appropriate to, the affairs of war; as, a military parade; military discipline; military bravery; military conduct; military renown. Nor do I, as an enemy to peace, Troop in the throngs of military men. Shak.

t subject to be called into actual service except in emergencies. The king's captains and soldiers fight his battles, and yet... the power of the militia is he. Jer. Taylor.

An irregular or partisan soldier; a bandit.

Dead pay; the crime of taking pay for the service of dead soldiers, or for services not actually rendered by soldiers. [Obs.] Bacon.

A soldier armed with a musket.

of numbers, inspection, exercise, or introduction into service. The hurried muster of the soldiers of liberty. Hawthorne. See how in warlike muster they appear, In rhombs, and wedges, and half-moons, and wings. Milton.

A soldier or a subordinate civil officer who executes cruel orders of a superior without protest or pity; -- sometimes applied to bailiffs, constables, etc. Thackeray. With unabated ardor the vindictive man of law and his myrmidons pressed forward. W. H. Ainsworth.

l or testament, a will or testament made by word of mouth only, before witnesses, as by a soldier or seaman, and depending on oral testimony for proof. Blackstone.

orbearance of some act; -- often followed by on or upon; as, obedience is obligatory on a soldier. As long as the law is obligatory, so long our obedience is due. Jer. Taylor.

cept the poles and the equator. -- Oblique step (Mil.), a step in marching, by which the soldier, while advancing, gradually takes ground to the right or left at an angle of about 25º. It is not now practiced. Wilhelm. -- Oblique system of coördinates (Anal. Geom.), a system in which the coördinate axes are oblique t…

A body of soldiers drawn up in a circle, as for defense, esp. infantry to repel cavalry.

A noncommissioned officer or soldier who attends a superior officer to carry his orders, or to render other service. Orderlies were appointed to watch the palace. Macaulay.

de, Undress parade. See under Dress, and Undress. -- Parade rest, a position of rest for soldiers, in which, however, they are required to be silent and motionless. Wilhelm.

A wall, rampart, or elevation of earth, for covering soldiers from an enemy's fire; a breastwork. See Illust. of Casemate.

A soldier who carried a pavise.

or service; compensation; recompense; payment; hire; as, the pay of a clerk; the pay of a soldier. Where only merit constant pay receives. Pope. There is neither pay nor plunder to be got. L'Estrange. Full pay, the whole amount of wages or salary; maximum pay; especially, the highest pay or allowance to civil or milita…

; especially, a regular stipend paid by a government to retired public officers, disabled soldiers, the families of soldiers killed in service, or to meritorious authors, or the like. To all that kept the city pensions and wages. 1 Esd. iv. 56.