Search the Dictionary

ten; esp., a period of ten years; a decennium; as, a decade of years or days; a decade of soldiers; the second decade of Livy. [Written also decad.] During this notable decade of years. Gladstone.

oration Day, a day, May 30, appointed for decorating with flowers the graves of the Union soldiers and sailors, who fell in the Civil War in the United States; Memorial Day. [U.S.]

A head or chief over ten; especially, an officer who commanded a division of ten soldiers.

o devote, set apart, or give up, as one's self, to a duty or service. The profession of a soldier, to which he had dedicated himself. Clarendon.

mouth, etc.); as, a deep cave or recess or wound; a gallery ten seats deep; a company of soldiers six files deep. Shadowing squadrons deep. Milton. Safely in harbor Is the king's ship in the deep nook. Shak.

To make a demand; to inquire. The soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, And what shall we do Luke iii. 14.

A soldier of light cavalry of the 16th century, who carried a demilance.

a body of men in order to extend their front. -Wilhelm. Deployments . . . which cause the soldier to turn his back to the enemy are not suited to war.H.L. Scott.

military service without permission, before the expiration of one's term; to abscond. The soldiers . . . deserted in numbers. Bancroft.

s a duty, a cause or a party, a friend, or any one to whom he owes service; especially, a soldier or a seaman who abandons the service without leave; one guilty of desertion.

To disarm and disband, as a body of soldiers,-Wilhelm.

To throw or remove from a horse; to unhorse; as, the soldier dismounted his adversary.

bandoned to sensual pleasures; profligate; wanton; lewd; debauched. "A wild and dissolute soldier." Motley.

A selecting or detaching of soldiers from an army, or from any part of it, or from a military post; also from any district, or any company or collection of persons, or from the people at large; also, the body of men thus drafted. Several of the States had supplied the deficiency by drafts to serve for the year. Marshal…

A short musket hooked to a swivel attached to a soldier's belt; -- so called from a representation of a dragon's head at the muzzle. Fairholt.

Formerly, a soldier who was taught and armed to serve either on horseback or on foot; now, a mounted soldier; a cavalry man.

The act of selecting or detaching soldiers; a draft (see Draft, n., 2)

To arrange in exact continuity of line, as soldiers; commonly to adjust to a straight line and at proper distance; to align; as, to dress the ranks.

To train in the military art; to exercise diligently, as soldiers, in military evolutions and exercises; hence, to instruct thoroughly in the rudiments of any art or branch of knowledge; to discipline. He [Frederic the Great] drilled his people, as he drilled his grenadiers. Macaulay.

es; to be dispirited or depressed; to languish; as, her spirits drooped. I'll animate the soldier's drooping courage. Addison.