squaddie

/ ˈskwɒdɪ /

noun

1. slang.
   a private soldier Compare swaddy

Word History and Origins

Origin of squaddie¹

C20: from squad

Example Sentences

Last year Boyega showed off his range, appearing in the title role of Woyzeck, playing a squaddie driven to madness, in a radical reinterpretation of the 19th-century Georg Büchner drama at the Old Vic theatre.

From The Guardian

But in relocating events to 1981 Berlin, where Woyzeck is an abject “squaddie” on secondment with the British Army, Mr. Thorne proceeds to fill in the teasing, tantalizing blanks about the character that previously made his gathering psychosis so unnerving to watch.

From New York Times

"At first it was very embarrassing: I used to be a roughy-toughy squaddie, I'd fight anybody and do anything. I do find it difficult to accept it, but I will speak to anybody about it."

From BBC

In 1986, after an encounter with a book of Arthurian legend, he realised the similarities between his own life story – squaddie, biker, property owner – and that of the former English head honcho – mythic king, sword-puller – were unmistakable and overwhelming.

From The Guardian

But it is also because Leicester embody a kind of football – and ethos – which still speaks to the inner squaddie of most fans.

From The Guardian