Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A member of the British Grenadier Guards, the first regiment of the royal household infantry.
  • noun A soldier who is a member of a special corps or regiment.
  • noun A soldier equipped with grenades.
  • noun Any of various deep-sea fishes of the family Macrouridae, having a long tapering tail and lacking a tail fin.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Originally, a soldier who threw hand-grenades.
  • noun A South African weaver-bird, Ploceus (Pyromelana) oryx: so called from its brilliant red and black plumage.
  • noun A fish, Macrurus fabricii or M. rupestris, found in deep water of the North Atlantic. Also called rattail.
  • noun plural The family Macruridæ.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Mil.) Originaly, a soldier who carried and threw grenades; afterward, one of a company attached to each regiment or battalion, taking post on the right of the line, and wearing a peculiar uniform. In modern times, a member of a special regiment or corps; one of the regiment of Grenadier Guards of the British army, etc.
  • noun (Zoöl.) Any marine fish of the genus Macrurus, in which the body and tail taper to a point; they mostly inhabit the deep sea; -- called also onion fish, and rat-tail fish.
  • noun (Zoöl.) A bright-colored South African grosbeak (Pyromelana orix), having the back red and the lower parts black.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A type of soldier, originally one who threw grenades, later a member of a company formed from the tallest men of the regiment; now specifically, a member of the Grenadier Guards.
  • noun Any of various African weaverbirds or waxbills, especially the common grenadier or the red bishop.
  • noun Any of various deep-sea fish of the family Macrouridae that have a large head and body and a long tapering tail; a rat-tail.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun deep-sea fish with a large head and body and long tapering tail
  • noun an infantryman equipped with grenades

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[French, from grenade, grenade; see grenade.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From French grenadier, corresponding to grenade + -ier.

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Examples

  • The grenadier is pointing out the Goddess of Fame hovering overhead.

    Canada at the Grave of Wolfe 1910

  • Again, the grenadier is a more recent vintage painting from a couple of years ago, while the fusilier is an old veteran of at least 17 years.

    Early Elite Miniatures - I Want These Figures Der Alte Fritz 2008

  • Again, the grenadier is a more recent vintage painting from a couple of years ago, while the fusilier is an old veteran of at least 17 years.

    Archive 2008-01-01 Der Alte Fritz 2008

  • Since the grenadier is the assistant team leader, I was slaved into Potter's radio and could hear B team talk to her.

    The Forever War Haldeman, Joe 1975

  • Since the grenadier is the assistant team leader, I was slaved into Potter's radio and could hear B team talk to her.

    The Forever War Haldeman, Joe 1975

  • Behold him now, his huge body astride of an enormous horse -- for, although the grenadier was a foot-soldier, he could still ride after a fashion -- plodding along through the mud and the wet and the cold on the mission which, if successful, would perhaps enable Napoleon to save the army and France, to say nothing of his throne and his family.

    The Eagle of the Empire A Story of Waterloo Cyrus Townsend Brady 1890

  • Even Morgan partook of the change, and I well recall how he came to me just before he landed, in a kind of grenadier uniform, with sword and musket and belts, drawing himself up very stiff and proud-looking as he let down the butt-end of his firelock with a loud bang upon the deck.

    Mass' George A Boy's Adventures in the Old Savannah George Manville Fenn 1870

  • But I noticed also just a suspicion of the "grenadier" stride when she was on the march to make her curtsey.

    The Amazing Marriage — Volume 2 George Meredith 1868

  • But I noticed also just a suspicion of the "grenadier" stride when she was on the march to make her curtsey.

    The Amazing Marriage — Complete George Meredith 1868

  • But I noticed also just a suspicion of the "grenadier" stride when she was on the march to make her curtsey.

    Complete Project Gutenberg Works of George Meredith George Meredith 1868

Comments

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  • "foot soldiers, forming flank companies, of tall stout men, furnished with tall caps. There is generally one to a regiment." (I think he means one company per regiment, not one individual.)

    October 9, 2008